'Please help find Mandy'

The former mother-in-law of missing Shrewsbury mother Mandy Franks today made an emotional appeal for her friends in Telford to help trace her.

She said Mandy - better known in Telford by her married name of Rowland - had been a wonderful daughter-in-law and a good mother.

See also: Police search Mandy's home

"We are all worried sick about what has happened to her and I've wiped out of my mind any thought that she might have come to harm," said 68-year-old Flo Rowland.

A massive police search is under way after Mandy, 40, of Belle Vue Road, Shrewsbury, went missing on Saturday night.

Before moving to Shrewsbury, Mandy lived with her husband Gary Rowland, 41, at Brindleyford, Brookside, for eight years.

They separated about two-and-a-half years ago and are now divorced.

Mr Rowland, a postman, still lives at the family home. Their son Louis, 21, is a student at Chester University and shared time between his mother and father.

Mrs Rowland, of School Road, Madeley, said she was speaking out publicly today because Mandy's Telford friends would not know her by her maiden name of Franks.

"I recognised my daughter-in-law when I saw her picture in the paper but I know that many of her neighbours and acquaintances in Telford did not," she said. "They thought they knew the face but not the name.

"Mandy was brought up in Wolverhampton before marrying Gary and living in Telford. He's very upset about her disappearance.

"She was a lovely, popular girl, always nice to me and really enjoyed life. She loved going out at night and going to the gym. I just hope she is safe and well."

Meanwhile, forensic officers today entered Mandy's home to search for clues.

Mandy, 40, was last seen talking to a doorman outside the Montgomery's Tower pub in Shrewsbury, at about midnight last Saturday. Her partner Jody Evans raised the alarm on Sunday after she failed to return home.

By Peter Johnson