A 25-year-old woman is being hunted by police after the murder of her mother.

Nicola Edgington was yesterday named as the prime suspect in the murder of 60-year-old Marion Edgington, who was found stabbed to death in her Sussex home.

Police fear Nicola, 25, who went on the run after her mother was murdered, may try to harm herself.

Officers said she would be arrested on suspicion of murder.

Yesterday, the victim's second daughter Sara, 20, pleaded with her sister: "Turn yourself in."

Sussex Police are investigating reports there had been an earlier argument which had "escalated", a force spokesman said.

One theory is that Nicola became furious when she discovered her mother had called social services about the way she was raising her two young sons. It is understood the family had all met up on Friday evening and had had a row.

Speaking at a media conference, Sara pleaded with her sister to come out of hiding. Describing Nicola as a "chav", slang for uneducated and ignorant, Sara said: "We cannot move on and come to terms with what has happened until we know where you are."

Asked what her sister did for a living, Sara, an office assistant working and living in London, replied: "Your guess is as good as mine."

Sara paid tribute to their mother: "Mum was perfect in every way. She loved helping people. She was wonderful in every way.

"She would have done anything to help anyone else who needed it.

"Myself and the rest of the family are finding it very difficult to understand what has happened."

Asked how much she loved her mother and how much she meant to her, Sara, dressed in a purple dress and brown woolly cardigan, replied: "It's ridiculous to ask."

It was Sara and her brother Thomas, 23, who discovered their mother's body at her home in Upper Close, Forest Row, near East Grinstead, when they returned after a night out on Saturday.

Police would not say how many times or where Mrs Edgington had been stabbed but sources said there were multiple wounds.

Nicola had been at her mother's home that day but there was no sign of her when officers arrived.

The area was searched using sniffer dogs and the Sussex Police helicopter but there was no sign of Nicola.

Sussex detectives were liaising with Metropolitan colleagues to check London addresses, including Nicola's home in Woolwich where her husband and two children live.

Detective Chief Inspector Adam Hibbert, heading Operation Clock, said he did not believe her sons or anyone else were in danger but he urged anyone spotting Nicola not to approach her but to call police.

Mr Hibbert said he was concerned for Nicola's welfare but said her children were safe.

He would not discuss the "dynamics" of the family or what happened in the hours before the killing, saying only that events on Friday evening were "integral to the inquiry".

Mr Hibbert said: "It is now vital that we find Nicola. We need to speak to her about this tragic incident.

"It is my intention that she will be arrested on suspicion of murder. She is the only nominated suspect."

Mr Hibbert said the murder was being treated as a "domestic incident". He said: "As such, I do not believe Nicola to be a risk to the public."

The victim had been in Forest Row for 12 years and was living with her partner Seamus, stepfather to Nicola, Sara and Thomas.

The children all went to a local boarding school and now live in London.

Thomas and the children's father were at the back of the room during the media conference at Eastbourne police station in Hammonds Drive. They declined to comment. Sara, clearly in shock, showed little emotion. She told how her mother had retired but worked occasionally as a cleaner for the elderly.

She said: "She would take them to the shops or to the doctors."

The murder victim lived at number 49 in leafy and genteel Upper Close. Floral tributes began arriving at the front of the house during the day.

Neighbours, many of whom have lived in the area since they were born, said they were stunned. Sara Harman-Clarke, whose parents knew the family well, said: "It's a horrible thing to happen next door. We're still very shocked."

Another neighbour said: "Everyone along here is stunned. She was very kind and compassionate.

"She was just kindness personified. Who alone knows how something like this happens? She was a good friend and neighbour."

The quiet road, just a few miles from AA Milne's Pooh Bridge at Hartfield, backs on to playing fields of nearby Forest Row Church of England Primary School.

Picking up their children from school and walking home along the lane, parents said they were horrified.

One said: "It's really freaky and not something you expect. I don't want my kids growing up in a place where something like this happens."

Sussex Police appealed to anyone with information to ring them on 0845 6070999.