A MAJOR search and rescue operation was carried out in Upton Country Park after a woman went missing in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Police, Coastguard and Dorset Search and Rescue (DORSAR) teams scoured 100 acres of woodland and combed the shoreline until the search was called off at around 5.30pm due to failing light.

They were hunting for Poole resident Sabrina Boulenouar, 33, who was last seen at home in Poole Road, Upton before her disappearance.

She is described as white, 5ft 6ins tall and has a shaven head.

Dorset Police said Sabrina was wearing a grey jumper, black leggings and black-rimmed glasses when she went missing.

A police spokesman said that the scale of the search was due to the weather and the risk of self-harm by the woman.

The search was due to resume at daylight this morning.

Speaking to the Daily Echo at the scene yesterday afternoon, Inspector Kevin Lansdale, of Dorset Police, said: "Dorset Police have been conducting searches in connection with the missing person.

"We have called in expert assistance for the search. At the moment we're concentrating our efforts around Upton Country Park and we have assistance from DORSAR and Coastguard teams. "

Because the country park covers such a wide area, Coastguards are searching along the shoreline and the water itself.

"These are not the only enquiries that we're carrying out in connection with the missing person."

He said that detailed searches began at the park at around midday but police officers and the force helicopter had been involved earlier in the day.

A dog walker said search teams had given her a description of the missing woman and asked her to call 999 if she saw her.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, added: “I haven’t seen her, but I hope she is all right.”

Coastguard teams from Poole and Kimmeridge were involved in the search and a muster station was set up to allow search teams to get hot drinks in the stormy weather conditions.

A volunteer crew from Poole Inshore Lifeboat was also involved in a search of Holes Bay and shorelines.

Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting incident 325 of January 1.