POLICE are increasingly concerned for the safety of a 14-year-old schoolgirl who has run away to be with a boyfriend she met on the Internet.

Victoria Whitelaw left home while her family were sleeping only the day after being refused permission to visit the 17-year-old who she had never previously met.

Her mother, Joy, of South Frederick Street, South Shields, South Tyneside, said yesterday: "I just want her to come back."

Victoria, a pupil at Mortimer Comprehensive School, South Shields, had been communicating for months with a teenager called Phil, from Cleethorpes.

On Monday, the teenager sent a text message to say she was all right and was with Phil at his home.

The family have contacted police who are trying to find out exactly where Victoria is staying.

Sergeant Graeme Flaxen, of South Shields police, said: "Victoria is only 14 and because of her age she is vulnerable. We need to contact her as soon as possible and persuade her to return home."