A TEENAGE boy has been missing for a week.

Concerns are growing for the welfare of Richard Clarke, 15, who was last seen on Saturday, January 25.

He was last at home with his family in Balmoral Road, Westcliff, the previous morning.

Richard turned up to the YMCA Free School in East Street, Prittlewell, on Friday, January 24, but skipped his last lesson.

He was spotted by one of his friends in Southend High Street the next day, but no one has heard from him since.

His worried sister Shannon Day, 18, said: "We are at a lost end, we just don't know where he could have gone.

"Him and his best friend normally see each other every afternoon but even he hasn't heard from Richard.

"My dad had a heart to heart with him because he had been missing school, and he promised he would sort himself out."

A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: “We are making enquiries and anyone with information should call police at Southend on 101.”