Missing Serena Alexander-Benson, 13, believed to be in Poland

A missing girl who failed to turn up to school in Wimbledon on Friday has travelled to Poland, police believe.

Serena Alexander-Benson, 13, told her father she was going to school when she left their south-west London home at 7.50am on Friday.

She was seen travelling in a car on the Eurotunnel train in Folkestone with an older woman, now understood to be a friend of her mother's.

Her mother lives in Poland and detectives investigating the teenager's disappearance believe she has travelled there.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: "Active lines of inquiry are being pursued by officers, working with the National Crime Agency and the Polish authorities.

"Detectives are not releasing further details at this stage of the route Serena and the woman have taken, nor of how it has been established that they are in Poland, where Serena's mother lives."

Officers based in Wandsworth are investigating.

Police have said their priorities are ensuring Serena is safe, after which point they will consider potential charges.