Detectives searching for a young woman who vanished on the same day that it emerged cash had gone missing from her workplace believe she has fled abroad.

Sara Drage, 23, is understood to have boarded a Dover to Calais ferry at 6.35am on Monday, hours before her managers reported an undisclosed amount of cash missing from their safe.

Police said Ms Drage works as a cashier for Steel & Co, a financial services company responsible for operating a Halifax bank branch in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Ms Drage, who is believed to have been under stress recently, was last seen by her flatmate at 9pm on Sunday using her computer at home in Seaside Road, Eastbourne. Police were alerted when she failed to turn up for work.

She texted family and friends last night but officers are liaising with Interpol for sightings of her abroad with her car, a red Peugeot 306, registration M446 GFB.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "It was discovered on Monday morning that money had gone missing from the safe at the financial services company.

"Clearly the two incidents may be connected. However, the priority at this stage is to confirm that Sara is safe and well."

Ms Drage is white, slim and about 5ft 6in with dark brown shoulder-length hair.

Detective Sergeant Dave Tye, of Sussex Police, said: "We believe Sara caught a ferry and is now abroad. We are trying to contact her to confirm that she is safe and well and to speak to her about the missing money."