An amateur pilot from West Sussex is feared lost at sea after he failed to return to an airfield from a pleasure flight.

Teacher Gerry Mepham took off alone in his light aircraft from Goodwood airfield, near Chichester, on Friday and was still missing last night.

RAF radar tapes show a plane suspected to be Mr Mepham's Piper Tomahawk flying out to sea before disappearing from the screen.

A major Coastguard, helicopter and lifeboat search was launched off the Sussex coast on Friday night and ships' crews were asked to keep a lookout for wreckage over the weekend.

Police were continuing their search today, after finding no trace of Mr Mepham or his aircraft overnight.

A coastguard spokesman said: "We are asking vessels in the English Channel to keep a look out for wreckage and report any sightings to us."

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "The aircraft did not land at any airport or airstrip and we now strongly believe Mr Mepham and his aircraft are lost at sea."

A friend at his home in Barnham was yesterday too upset to talk about the growing concerns for Mr Mepham's welfare.

Mr Mepham's mother and family are being kept informed of the search.

Mr Mepham, who is in his mid-50s, is a teacher at Priory School in Fratton, Portsmouth.

A Goodwood spokeswoman said he had a private pilot's licence and flew regularly from the airfield using his own plane.

However, he was not qualified to fly at night and staff alerted the emergency services when he failed to return by nightfall. The spokeswoman said: "When you own your own plane you can basically come and go as you please but you are generally obliged to inform the tower what you are doing and to get permission to depart and arrive, although it is not obligatory.

"Pilots normally keep in contact with the tower and log back in when they return.

"When he didn't return, the control tower took all the normal procedures in alerting the emergency services.

"He had been flying from here for some years. He learnt to fly here and has been here since 1995. He took his private pilot's licence with us."

A Solent Coastguard spokeswoman said the fact a plane had vanished from radar did not necessarily mean it had ditched in the sea.

She said: "He lost contact around the Littlehampton area but it could be for any reason. He may have turned his equipment off or he may have landed somewhere or carried on going towards France."