POLICE today insisted the hunt would go on for a teenager who absconded from Calderstones Hospital -- despite him technically not being a patient any more.

Andrew Sutcliffe, 18, went missing from the Whalley hospital on July 11 after giving a female member of staff the slip while on an accompanied visit to his mother's home in Burnage, Manchester, sparking a search by Greater Manchester Police.

On Monday the section which detained him at the hospital's more secure West Drive unit ran out, meaning he was no longer officially classed as a patient.

But officers today insisted the search would go on until he is found.

Calderstones NHS Trust chief executive Russ Pearce said: "His section has not been renewed because it cannot be done in the patient's absence."

He refused to comment on whether he would be taken back to the hospital although it is understood police could take him back and he would be then assessed by doctors.

An officer at the Elizabeth Slinger Road Police Station, Manchester, which is dealing with the inquiry, said: "Police are still looking for him and he could be returned to the hospital where he was sectioned."

The statement is in contrast to Greater Manchester Police's response in August when they said they had found the missing teenager and were not going to return him to the hospital, prompting Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans to slam the handling of the inquiry as "bizarre." GMP later said Andrew was still technically missing despite speaking to him on his mobile phone.

Inspector Craig Thompson of Greater Manchester Police told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph last month his officers speak regularly to Andrew's family and had been seen "on a regular basis." Mr Thompson added Andrew was said to be safe and in good health.

Andrew was sent to Calderstones by the courts in September last year and only had two more months to complete before he absconded. Mr Pearce refused to comment on whether Andrew would have to make his time up if police caught him. It was now a police matter, he said.