TWO 15-year-old girls who have been missing since Wednesday have been found safe and well.

Dishani Cooray of Sulgrave Road, in Washington, was left at St Anthony's Comprehensive School in Sunderland by her mother in the morning _ but she failed to attend and was marked as absent. Her mother reported her missing when she returned to collect her daughter from school at 3.30pm the same day.

Her friend Rosie Conlon of Fourstones Road, Ford Estate, Sunderland left for school travelling by bus with her mother. Her mother got off the bus at an earlier stop at 8.50am assuming her daughter would travel on by bus to school as usual. She also never attended school on Wednesday and was also marked absent.

A police spokesman said last night the two had been found safe and well in Greater Manchester.

Northumbria Police officers were last night travelling to Manchester to collect them to return them to their families.