A massive Police hunt was launched after three children went missing on their way home from school in Somerset on Friday evening.

The youngsters ? a brother and sister and their cousin, aged six, seven and eight ? disappeared after leaving West End Primary School and are understood to have eventually turned up at a relative?s home on Saturday morning.

Officers scoured Somerset after the children?s grandmother raised the alarm at 10.30 p.m. They carried out door-to-door inquiries near to the children?s home before widening their search as far afield as Dockyard.

Police spokesman Dwayne Caines said the grandmother realised that they were missing after calling to find out if they had reached their appointed destination after school and discovering that they hadn?t.

?They were last seen by a member of the public at 9 p.m. on Scott?s Hill Road in Sandys,? he said. ?Police began canvassing all available resources to look for the missing trio.

?The search was very extensive, covering areas in Somerset and Dockyard. Somerset Long Bay, Nine Beaches, Lagoon Park, the Springfield property and Cambridge boathouse were checked. It covered the Sandys parish and then we started to consider that they may have left the parish.

?We started to cover the areas that we believed they may ?We started to cover the areas that we believed they may have frequented.?

He said the overnight search ? lasting almost ten hours and involving volunteer members of the public ? proved fruitless. ?All checks were negative,? he said.

Mr. Caines added that at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning the children were found safe and sound in Somerset and were taken to a safe place to be evaluated.

He did not disclose where they had spent the night or where they were discovered, but understands that the trio went to a family member?s home, after which the search was called off.

Mr. Caines thanked those who had joined in the search and apologised to residents who were disturbed by the Police inquiry late at night.