POLICE have notified schools in north Hampshire after a convicted sex offender escaped a psychiatric unit in Winchfield.

There have been more than 100 reports of sightings of Stephen Munden after the 54-year-old climbed a fence to leave Mildmay Oaks hospital in Winchfield on Tuesday evening.

Chief Inspector Annabel Berry, commander for the Hart and Rushmoor district, told The Gazette that police had worked with schools that surround the hospital after Munden disappeared.

Police alerted schools in a wider area, including Basingstoke, yesterday.

Ch Insp Berry said: “He is a registered sex offender and was convicted of a sexual assault on a child aged under 13 and so we want to protect the public from that risk.

“The public are the key to helping with that.

“Naturally we have done a lot of rural searching and have used the helicopter with infra red equipment. That has been accompanied by physical searches by officers on the ground.”

She said officers had searched Munden’s room at the hospital, around the hospital grounds and the surrounding rural area.

She praised officers at Hart District Council for their help in the search, and advised nearby farmers to make “suitable checks” on outbuildings.

The sightings so far have come from a wide area, from on the south coast in Hampshire to the Thames Valley.

Police believe Munden remains on foot.

He is described as 5ft 8ins tall, of heavy build and wore dark trousers and a blue shirt. He is thought to have been clean shaven when he left the hospital.

Anyone who has sight of Munden is asked to call 999 immediately. People with other information are asked to contact the police on the 101 number.