Police have released new CCTV images showing the last known whereabouts of Noah Woods, as a lake is cordoned off in the search for the missing three-year-old.

The toddler, who is non-verbal, partially deaf and being assessed for autism, vanished from a playground in the tiny village of Brantham, Suffolk, yesterday.

Hundreds of people have gathered to try and find the boy as part of a major search operation, which has since entered its second day, after he went missing at 3pm on Tuesday.

Police have said there is ‘nothing to indicate anything sinister or any element of criminality’, but they are keeping an open mind. 

CCTV images show Noah, wearing a white Bluey T-shirt, shorts and black Vans trainers, playing on a roundabout in the park in Merriam Close near his home.

Noah is believed to have run off from a relative – understood to be his grandfather – shortly afterwards, before disappearing down an alleyway.

Since this morning, up to a thousand volunteers from near and far have spent hours scouring the area in coordinated groups. 

Residents have been urged to check their gardens, sheds and outbuildings, and those with CCTV or doorbell cameras have been asked to review the footage.

Noah’s devastated father, Rhys Woods, has pleaded with the public to help, saying he ‘cannot go another night knowing he’s out there alone’ and urging people not to give up hope.

This morning, police cordoned off a lake, known as Decoy Pond, as well as a footpath beside the playground, while a helicopter hovered overhead and circled around the area.

Police have released new CCTV images of the last whereabouts of missing Noah Woods

The toddler, who is non-verbal, partially deaf and being assessed for autism, vanished from a playground in the tiny village of Brantham, Suffolk, yesterday 

Noah, wearing a white Bluey T-shirt, shorts and black Vans trainers, is believed to have run off from a relative – understood to be his grandfather – in Merriam Close near his home before disappearing down an alleyway 

Hundreds of members of the public have joined the search to find three–year–old Noah Woods, who went missing after visiting a playground in Suffolk

Volunteer searchers were briefed at the village hall this morning by parish clerk, Sarah Keys, who told them: ‘Please remember we are searching for a frightened three-year-old boy’

This morning, police cordoned off a lake, known as Decoy Pond, as they continue to search for Noah

Noah vanished after becoming separated from a relative in Merriam Close, Brantham, on Tuesday afternoon

Emergency services are searching the Brantham area in a bid to locate him, while residents have been urged to check their gardens, sheds and outbuildings

Police also cordoned off a footpath beside the playground, while a helicopter hovered overhead and circled around the area

A police officer, who was putting up more tape along the edge of a nearby wooded area, said this area was also ‘out of bounds’ to members of the public.

The alleyway he disappeared down leads to a new-build housing estate, a pond and a railway line.

Brantham Parish Council has told residents not to go onto the train line or to Decoy Pond ‘due to specialist searching in the area’.

Posting to Facebook, Mr Woods said: ‘We still have nothing, all the emergency services and all of you have shown how strong this community is, with people coming from far and wide also.

‘The emergency services are very confident that the high risk areas (Decoy pond, railway lines) are all clear.

‘This means knowing our boy, he has gone even further, could I ask that all of you brilliant people out there today expand further if you are able to?

‘I cannot go another night knowing he’s out there alone, please don’t give up on him guys. He is out there somewhere and I appreciate every single one of you.’

Noah’s great uncle, Tony Malcolm, who was part of the search team, described him as ‘a lovely little kid’.

On Wednesday, volunteers could be seen in hi-vis jackets helping to search the area, with efforts being co-ordinated from the village hall and a local leisure centre. 

Volunteer searchers were briefed at the village hall by parish clerk, Sarah Keys, who told them: ‘Please remember we are searching for a frightened three-year-old boy.’

They have been told not to grab or approach Noah if they find him, but instead to call police on 999 immediately and give their exact location using the What3Words app. 

Ms Keys said around 500 people had stayed up all night to carry on searching for Noah. 

The village hall stayed open during the night, and the council also printed out hundreds of maps for volunteers to use in their searches.

Ms Keys said: ‘There were about 1,000 people out at one point. I think local people are just feeling devastated. Everyone just wants to pull together and help.’

Officers have also been seen going door-to-door at the nearby Taylor Wimpey housing estate to ask if residents have checked their doorbell cameras and gardens. 

Superintendent Tom Pearse said: ‘It has now been around 24 hours since Noah was reported as missing to us and we are doing everything we can to find him.

‘We are extremely grateful for the support shown by the public. If you are helping please report into the co-ordination centre to ensure the search continues to be done in a systematic and co-ordinated fashion.

‘This will ensure we can carefully plan and take account of people supporting the search. We politely ask people to avoid open waters and railways – these are areas that require specialist and professional expertise.

‘We also ask that personal drones are not used as these can interfere with specialist search equipment.’

Supt Tom Pearse continued: ‘This is being treated as a missing person investigation at this stage and there is nothing to indicate anything sinister or any element of criminality has taken place although we keep an open mind as to the circumstances.

‘We continue to call on local residents to please check your gardens, sheds and outbuildings, or any other place a child may have be hidden or sought shelter.

‘Please also review CCTV or doorbell cameras, and for motorists travelling in and around Brantham to review any dashcam footage from 3pm yesterday.’

Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk Tim Passmore urged those joining the ongoing searches not to go out alone and to get direction from those organising the response.

Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk, he said his ‘thoughts and prayers’ are with friends and family of Noah Woods.

He said: ‘As time goes by I really hope we can get some good news. I can’t think of anything worse than a poor little three-year-old lad going missing and not being found.’

Dozens of locals gathered at the village hall from 8.30am in the hope of getting a police briefing about where to search, but many decided to head off on their own before a senior officer arrived to talk to them.

Ms Keys told the crowd: ‘I know your feet are itching to go out and look for that little boy. We just want to find him.’

Around 200 locals who had arrived at the hall by around 9.30am were split into two groups with fitter people being allocated to search muddy tracks and fields while others were told to concentrate on the paved areas of the village.

Local residents wait outside Brantham Village Hall, to join police officers as they continue their search for Noah

Searches continue this morning for Noah, who went missing from a playground yesterday afternoon

Local residents join police officers as they continue their for Noah

Members of a search and rescue team continue their search near Merriam Close for Noah

Environment Agency officers join police officers as they continue their search for Noah

Noah’s father Rhys Woods (pictured) asked the public to ‘please don’t give up on him’ and to continue searching, telling them ‘he is out there somewhere’.

South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge said on X that he and the local police force are ‘incredibly grateful to the community and all of the volunteers for their help with the search for missing Noah’.

In an earlier post, he called the toddler’s disappearance ‘incredibly concerning’, adding ‘I simply can’t imagine what his family and loved ones are going through, but they will be in the thoughts of us all’.

Superintendent Pete Partridge said in a statement: ‘We are very concerned for Noah’s welfare and need to find him as a matter of urgency.

‘A vast number of resources have been deployed by ourselves, our emergency services colleagues and volunteers from SULSAR (Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue). 

‘These resources have been bolstered by members of the public who have turned out in large numbers to assist and we are incredibly grateful for their help and support.

‘Given that fast-moving nature of the investigation, it is important that any public searches are co-ordinated with police to ensure we are working together, and that our resources are directed where they can be most effective.’

Yesterday, a Coastguard helicopter was seen circling the village, which is near the estuary of the River Stour.

And passengers on trains between Manningtree and Ipswich were told that their services would be run at a reduced speed because of the searches. 

Volunteers from Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue used a boat to search Decoy Pond, the local beauty spot Noah was seen running towards.

Police dog units joined the search overnight, and thermal imaging cameras were deployed.

Just before midnight, volunteers who joined the hunt were told to go home for the night and rest, but many remained on the streets. 

In a Facebook post just after 5am on Wednesday, Brantham Parish Council said there had been no confirmed sightings of Noah.

‘The search for Noah continues this morning,’ the post said.

‘If you are able to help with the search today, please keep safe and take care of yourselves. 

‘Search in pairs where possible, wear high-vis clothing and take extra care around roads, water, woodland and other potentially dangerous areas. Please take a fully charged mobile phone with you.

‘Please also check your own property thoroughly, including gardens, sheds, garages, outbuildings, vehicles and under or behind furniture.

‘If the police ask you to move away from an area, please follow their instructions. This may be to allow specialist search activity to take place.’

Last night, Brantham Parish Council wrote on its Facebook page: ‘We have been completely overwhelmed by the support received from the Brantham community and from visitors from far and wide and our thanks go to the emergency services and all the volunteers who have joined the search so far.

‘The Village Hall will be open all night with toilet facilities and drinks if you need it. 

‘The emergency services will be continuing their search throughout the night.’

A missing child poster is attached to a lamppost in the village as local continue to search for Noah

The search continues in darkness for three–year–old Noah, who disappeared in Brantham

Volunteers who joined the hunt have now been told to go home for the night and rest

One police officer manning the cordon last night urged the public to allow officers to get on with the job themselves. 

He told the Harwich and Manningtree Standard: ‘We have been given information and we want to search this bit with our teams now that we have got the teams here.

‘You’ve got dog units looking for any sort of tracks, and then we’ve got thermal imaging going throughout the wooded area.

‘At this time of night with this light, it’s harder for members of the public – we want to make sure we can do that with all of our equipment we’ve got. 

‘The more people we have got in there [in the woodland] the harder it is going to be for us, especially with scents – if there is a scent or a track or anything like that, we don’t want that to be changed in any way. 

‘If there are people in there, the thermal imaging is going to pick up them as opposed to obviously all of our goal to find the little man.’

Suffolk Police said anyone with information about Noah’s whereabouts should contact them. 

They said: ‘Police are appealing for help to locate a missing three–year–old boy in Brantham.

‘Noah was last seen at approximately 3pm [on] Tuesday 15 September, when he became separated from a relative after visiting the playground in Merriam Close.

‘Noah is reported to have run off down the alleyway beside the playground towards the new build housing estate.

‘Noah is described as white, with curly ginger hair. He is wearing a white Bluey t–shirt, shorts and white trainers.’

A spokesman for HM Coastguard said: ‘We are assisting Suffolk Constabulary with an incident at Brantham by sending an HM Coastguard helicopter and Coastguard Rescue Teams from Felixstowe and Holbrook.’ 

Kevin Gray, 32, of Essex, and his brother Shane Barnett, 39, took a day off from their gardening business to join the search.

Mr Gray said: ‘I came out last night until 11.45pm. There were so hundreds of people out looking which was amazing.

‘You looked across the field and all you could see were torches and some people driving around with headlights on. I decided I had to come back today and help.’

Lisa Clarke, 44, of Ipswich, Suffolk, who also joined the search, said: ‘It’s heartbreaking. You just feel you have got to do something. I am neuro-diverse myself and I realise how vulnerable is. It just bring it all home.’