THE Verwood community rallied to locate an elderly man who spent the night under a tree after losing his way.

Syliva Berville, 75, has thanked her community for helping to find her husband who went missing for nearly 24 hours over the weekend.

Dorset Police launched an appeal to find John Berville on Saturday after he had left his home at Lake Road at around 10.30am.

The 87-year-old had gone for a walk to clear his head but then got himself lost, soon sparking a town-wide search.

Now his wife Sylvia is thanking the community, the emergency services along with her neighbours who responded to her calls for help in droves.

Sylvia said: "People just came out of the woodwork. People were walking their dogs up until 1am looking for him. The magnitude of people willing to help, sending wishes; words fail me to be honest."

John had left the house while Sylvia was out buying his paper but had soon lost his way.

He ended up at the Somerley estate after getting disorientated, and was forced to spend the night under a tree.

His only way of keeping track of the time after it went dark was by watching the stars move, Sylvia said.

"He went across bridges and across grasslands, lost his shoes and he had to dig them out of the bog and then it was getting cold and dark," she said.

"He did all these things. He is literally Verwood's Bear Grylls.

"Eventually he came across a disused barn. He made a phone call, with the help of a man at a cottage and he gave him a lift to the Old Beams Inn at Ibsley."

Sylvia went to pick him up at around 8.30am on Sunday morning - nearly 24 hours after he went missing.

"We honestly thought that was the end," she said. "He must've walked around eight to 10 miles in total.

"The police were fantastic. They sent out two lots of helicopters, they sent tracker dogs and they searched all the houses."

Chief Inspector Steve White launched the appeal for John, who had last been seen wearing a green bomber jacket and flat cap, after Sylvia called the police, advising them John had difficulty walking.