A 73-year-old woman who went missing from her farm in Barnoldswick at 8.30am on Saturday sparked a major search of moorland.

The pensioner, Laura Brooks who police said is confused, was eventually found about a mile from her home Copy Nook Farm at 4.10am on Sunday and taken to Burnley General Hospital were she was kept in for observation.

Rossendale Search and Rescue Team were called out at 7pm on Saturday and Team leader Dave Barrington said: "We had a dozen members and a dog from Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team and we searched a four sq km area of remote moorland near to her farm which had a reservoir on it between two tracks.

"We were stepped down by the police at 2.30am on Sunday, but the police were continuing to search another area.

"There had been reported sightings of her in Earby but they turned out to be false. The police helicopter was called out several times to do searches of various areas."

Police said the pensioner had gone missing before and had previously turned up in the Gisburn and Rimington areas.