NEIGHBOURS rallied round to bring home a man suffering from dementia who had wandered off.

Sidney Brown, 80, was found on the ground in an alleyway more than two hours after leaving his home in the Cradle Hill area of Seaford.

His wife Susan, 74, was busy calling the police after failing to find him anywhere in the neighbourhood, when two men brought him back.

Sidney struggles to walk far and is unable to get up if he falls, leaving his wife terrified of what could have happened to him.

Susan, who has been married to Sidney for 54 years said: “I had been out to walk the dog and when I came back he wasn’t here.

“I thought ‘where do I start looking?

“I came back and spoke to our next door neighbour Dan Philips who is a veteran.

“We both went round the district in our cars looking for him and Dan’s wife Sarah put Sid’s description on Facebook asking people to keep an eye out for him.

“After more than two hours I thought, I’m going to have to phone the police and I was on the phone speaking to the police when these two gentlemen came over with Sidney.

“I thought how wonderful is it that people still look out for their neighbours.

“Sidney had gone down a little alley. He was dazed and didn’t know what had happened.

“Some days he is fine and some days he isn’t and Monday wasn’t a good day.

“I tried to ask him what had happened but he doesn’t know.

He just found himself on the ground and he can’t get up on his own.

“I dread to think what could have happened if they hadn’t found him.”

Susan said she wanted to thank all her neighbours who helped find Sidney – especially the two men who she has seen in the neighbourhood before but does not know the names of.

The couple have a daughter who lives in Haywards Heath and two grown up grandsons. The whole family was anxious when Sidney could not be found.

Susan said: “My daughter was getting ready to come over. One of the grandsons was going to come and look for him too.

“You hear so many awful stories about what can happen that we were just so relieved when he was found safely.

“He was a bit confused but totally unhurt.”

Sydney is a retired firefighter. He worked in the Dalston and Stoke Newington area of London.

After moving to Seaford to retire he drove the school bus for the old Newlands School

He said: “I know it was only a couple of hours but it felt like forever when I was on the floor.”