Police are searching for a British diplomat who went missing after going out for a run last week.

Richard Morris, 52, was last seen by his family when he left home in Bentley, Hampshire, near Farnham in Surrey, at around 10:30am on Wednesday.

A Hampshire police spokesman said: ‘His family are understandably concerned for his welfare.’

Mr Morris was Britain’s ambassador to Nepal from 2015 to 2019, during which time he hosted Prince Harry on his royal tour of the country.

He was previously head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Pacific department and was set to take up a new position as British High Commissioner to Fiji in July.

Police have appealed for locals to look for the father-of-three on their property or on CCTV footage, but urged them to stay away from public areas.

A spokesperson for the force said: ‘Richard is described as being white, around 6ft tall, with greying hair and a beard. He is also described as having a port birthmark on his face.

‘He was last seen wearing a blue long sleeved top with a half zip, black shorts, and blue trainers.’

A government profile page describes him as a fan of long-distance running.

The spokesperson: ‘We are now asking residents in the surrounding areas if they could assist by checking sheds, outbuildings and gardens. We would also love to hear from any residents or businesses with CCTV that could help our enquiries.

‘We would like to reassure people that we have professional search teams conducting a thorough search of local areas and would respectfully ask members of the public not to attempt to look for Richard, outside of your own property, themselves.

‘This is so teams can accurately monitor all areas that have been police-searched to a professional standard and so potential tracking can be conducted by search dogs.’

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