Vulnerable people will be tracked from space to help keep them safe.

A lifesaving gadget to monitor the location of patients with dementia has been so successful in Chichester it is being rolled out across Sussex.

Mindme is a small GPS locator that has been specially designed for people with Alzheimer’s.

It can clip to a belt, hang around the neck or be placed in a bag.

If a person becomes lost or disorientated they can be located through a dedicated website.

Gill Stoneham, from Fishbourne in Chichester, who has dementia, started using the Mindme locator after a neighbour found her disorientated and trying to cross the busy A27 roundabout.

On one occasion after Gill went out to walk the dog, her husband Bernard checked the tracking system and found she had wandered off in the wrong direction.

He said: “I decided to check the footpath from the church to the main road, and as I did, I passed the entrance to a field where cattle had recently been.

“The entrance was very muddy and full of water.

“In the entrance I suddenly saw Gill, lying on the ground stuck in the mud.

“She was very distressed and had been physically sick. Without the locator I wouldn’t have known where to look for her.”

Chichester Careline, run by Chichester District Council, is currently the only centre in the country monitoring the devices.

The latest model allows patients to talk directly to operators through a mouthpiece if they are lost or in trouble.

Sussex Police has been so impressed with the device that the force is funding a number of devices for people with dementia who regularly go missing.

Sgt Suzie Mitchell said: “We regularly have to search for missing people with dementia.

“I knowfirst-hand howhard it can be because one of my family members had dementia.

“I also knowwhat a difference this technology will make to those with dementia and their families.

“We are really excited about our involvement in this project.”

Chichester Careline can be contacted on 01243 778688 or by emailing community careline@ chichester.gov.uk