A father is desperately trying to trace his children after their mother took them and vanished.

Lawrence Scott says he is worried sick about four-year-old Liam and Casey, one.

Attempts to trace his ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth Sanders, have proved fruitless. He has been unable to contact her parents and her friends say they do not know where she is.

Now Mr Scott, 27, of Water Lane, Angmering, has resorted to putting up posters in shops in a bid to track them down.

He said: "I love my two children. I can't stop thinking about them all the time and can't sleep at night. I just want them back again.

"If anyone has seen them please can they contact me so I can see my children again."

He last saw them during the first weekend of July. Soon after he received a letter from Ms Sanders, 21, of Wick, saying they had moved on.

The letter contained no forwarding address or phone number.

Although Mr Scott and Ms Sanders have split up, he has a court order allowing him to see the children every other weekend.

His notices in shops in the Littlehampton area ask anyone who sees them to contact him immediately.

Mr Scott said: "When I last saw my ex-girlfriend there was no sign that she was going away with the children. Last time I saw the children Liam said to me that he didn't want to go home and told me they were going on holiday.

"I didn't think anything of it at the time and told him he had to go home. I have replayed that conversation with my son in my head so many times now. Maybe he knew what was going to happen.

"I had no idea that she was going to take them off. The letter simply said she needed a fresh start and some time.

"Whatever has happened I am sure it can be worked out."

Ms Sanders is about 5ft 4ins tall, with brown, curly, shoulder-length hair and wears glasses.

Anyone with any information should call Mr Scott on 0771 9045201.