It was fun and games as usual at the weekend for a toddler who sparked a major alert after going missing for ten hours.

Little Merlin Reid was blissfully unaware of the desperate drama which unfolded after he wandered off from his grandparents' garden sandpit.

After a short spell in hospital, two-year-old Merlin was back singing, dancing and playing games with his older brother Jolyn, five.

Their father, barrister Andrew Reid, told of the moment he saw Merlin in the back of an ambulance, crunching a Penguin biscuit as though nothing had happened.

He said: "He looked a bit like a turkey because he was wrapped in baking foil, with chocolate smeared over his mouth. I couldn't hold him because he was being treated but I was allowed to hold his hand under the baking foil.

"I was with him through the night at Crawley Hospital. He was checked over every hour and was absolutely fine, not even any hypothermia, in perfect health.

"Today he has been just his normal self, singing and dancing and playing with his older brother.

"When they found him he was not crying, just silent - he's a courageous little boy. The only time I'm aware of him crying was when they were putting lines in for drips but thank goodness it all had a happy ending."

Mr Reid stuck a letter on the door of a village shop at Barns Green, near Billingshurst, to thank those who took part in the search for their efforts.

It read: "Our thanks go to the many members of the Barns Green community who joined in the ten-hour search for our missing two-year-old toddler.

"We are touched by the compassion, concern and concrete assistance so freely given by so many in our time of need. As a direct result of that assistance, tragedy was averted. Merlin is now back with his family unharmed and fully recovered from his ordeal. We are forever indebted to you all."

Merlin's family plans to celebrate his safe homecoming by going on a sightseeing tour of Europe.

It was a far cry from 7.30pm on Thursday when Mr Reid drove up the muddy road to his parents' farm, to be confronted by blue flashing lights.

Rolling down his car window, he asked what was going on and a stranger told him his son had disappeared.

After a huge search, Mr Reid's youngest son Merlin was found alive in nearby woods, having crossed a railway line, a slurry pit and bogs, before getting his leg caught in the roots of a tree.

Visibly relieved at Merlin's safe return, Mr Reid spoke of the harrowing experience his family endured.

Merlin and his older brother were spending some time with their grandparents, Richard and Alexandra, before Mr Reid, his wife Hui-ling and the boys set off on a trip to Europe.

On Thursday, at about 2.30pm, Alexandra, 64, went to get some ointment for Jolyn, who was suffering from chickenpox. She returned minutes later to discover Merlin was not in the sandpit where he had been playing.

She raised the alarm and 90 police officers, backed by a helicopter with infra-red sensors, were mobilised to search the area.

Mr Reid had travelled from his home in County Mayo, Ireland, unaware of the drama unfolding until he got to his parents' home at 7.30pm.

He said: "Mr Reid said his parents suffered throughout the ordeal.

"If it's your own children, you're devastated. When you are responsible for somebody else's children, it must be the most terrible thing imaginable."

Merlin's mother was recovering from chicken pox, in Ireland, at the time of the disappearance.

Mr Reid said: "For my wife at the time, it was awful - she was at the end of a telephone."