AN unstable man, who had gone missing from a North-East mental health hospital, has returned.

Members of the public were warned not to approach Joseph Miller who left the Pine Unit at Middleton St George Hospital, near Darlington, on Tuesday evening.

Thirty-two year-old Mr Miller, who is a mental health patient at the unit, was believed to have left the premises at around 6pm and caught a taxi to Middlesbrough station.

Police in Darlington said Mr Miller returned to the hospital of his own free will at around 7.30pm.