A BOY who sparked a major search operation after going missing during freezing weather in the Yorkshire Dales has been found safe and well.

The parents of the nine-year-old, from Ravensworth, near Richmond, alerted police this (Friday, March 29) morning after they discovered he was not at the house of a friend he had said he would visit.

North Yorkshire Police and Swaledale Mountain Rescue team launched a search and air support was scrambled after it was feared may have gone to lakes in the area.

Police also issued an appeal for residents and walkers in the area to look out for the boy, who was wearing wellington boots and had no coat.

Inspector Mark Gee said the boy had been missing for three hours when he was found near the village, at another of his friends’ houses.

Inspector Gee thanked the mountain rescue team for rapidly responding to the alert.

He said: “We were relieved to have a quick and happy ending to the situation, it shows how well the community can pull together.”