PANIC-stricken villagers launched a search for a missing two-year-old - only to find her playing happily in a neighbour's empty home.

Carla Horton has been christened Goldilocks by relieved family and friends after wandering into the house next door while the owners were at work.

They had forgotten to lock the door and Carla toddled inside. She found a giant doll's house in an upstairs bedroom and sat down to play - unaware that a massive search had begun outside.

Her mother, Lyn, raised the alarm after failing to find Carla aound their home in Ulgham, near Morpeth, Northumberland.

Within minutes a massive search was launched, neighbours formed lines across fields, searched footpaths, gardens, outhouses and ponds, and police officers scoured the area with dogs.

The search, involving about 40 people, had been under way for a nerve-jangling 55 minutes when Carla was found.

Mrs Horton noticed next door's door open, called Carla's name and raced upstairs when she called back in reply. A beaming Carla simply said: "Hello mummy."

Mrs Horton, 39, said she and her husband Gary, a 46-year-old carpenter, wept with relief as they hugged their youngest daughter.

She said: "It was awful. We were getting Emma ready for school and while things were a little chaotic, Carla slipped out. She just disappeared.

"Throughout all the chaos outside, she was sitting there, oblivious to it all, after wandering into an empty house like Goldilocks.

"When we finally found her, itwas an incredible feeling."

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: "We are delighted Carla turned up safe and well."