A Sussex grandmother has gone missing while visiting relatives in Australia.

Rita Braidwood, 76, from Hove, was last seen five days ago. She disappeared during a shopping trip in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla on Wednesday.

Despite emotional appeals from her family, there has been no sign of Mrs Braidwood, who has nine children and 21 grandchildren.

Her son Stephen Braidwood, from London, said: "We are very worried. She occasionally loses track of time but that's a side effect of an illness she has.

"She had nothing but a small amount of money on her and she didn't have her credit cards or passport. We think she may have got confused."

Mr Braidwood, 50, said he was in constant contact with the police and his sisters in Australia but had not yet heard anything.

He said they were growing more worried about her safety and feared if she did not take medication for a kidney infection she might become increasingly disorientated.

Her daughters, Rosemary Cooper and Gillian Sofatzis, made an emotional appeal on Australian television but there have been no sightings.

Mrs Sofatzis said: "Our mother is not in the best of health and we are concerned her condition might have deteriorated and she could be confused, wandering around and not sure of where she is or that we are looking for her."