Son's desperate plea to learn the whereabouts of dad Michael Dennington who has links to Newark and Ollerton

A son whose father vanished three weeks ago says he desperately needs to hear from him.

Jason Taylor had only just started to reconnect with dad Michael Dennington when he disappeared.

Officers from Nottinghamshire Police are growing increasingly concerned for the welfare of Mr Dennington, who they describe as vulnerable.

Although he hails from the Mansfield area, Mr Dennington has strong links to Newark, including a life-long friend, and is a regular visitor to the town.

He also has links to Ollerton and several other neighbouring towns and villages such as Selston, Cliptsone, Worksop and Sutton-in-Ashfield, and also further afield in Cleethorpes, Glossop and Derby.

A desperately worried Jason, who is due to move in with his father, said: "Mum and dad split up when I was five and I saw dad maybe five times throughout my childhood up until the age of 15.

"He had moved on with a new family.

"I reached out to my aunt Debbie and asked if she could put us in touch again. I'm 29 now, nearly 30, and I wanted him back in my life.

"I've spent the last six weeks getting to know him and have seen him five times and I've been ringing him a lot.

"I could see that he was starting to get depressed but he's very closed-off and doesn't really speak about that kind of stuff.

"I started to realise his mental health was deteriorating.

"He couldn't sit still. He was paranoid and said that he was hearing voices."

The 58-year-old was reported missing from the Mansfield area on Sunday, May 31. CCTV (pictured) is the last official sighting of him and was obtained from King's Mill Hospital, Sutton-in-Ashfield, as he was leaving at 3.24pm on May 26.

Jason said: "He stopped with me for the two nights prior to him going missing. He woke me up in the night saying there were people outside watching the house. I checked it out but there was no-one.

"He has never touched drugs in his life, I asked if he was taking them, and the answer was 'no.'

"When I first met up with him again he was happy and outgoing, very chatty and a nice person to speak to.

"I'm desperately worried and now starting to miss him all over again, just as I did as a child.

"It's like a sinking feeling.

"I just want to know that he's safe and for him to know that he's always welcome here and doesn't need to feel like he's homeless.

"He has a place where he can belong."

Mr Dennington is described as of a slim build, 5ft 2ins tall with dark brown, short hair. He was last seen wearing grey jogging bottoms, white trainers and a black waist-length jacket.

The Missing From Home Team have been carrying out enquiries and extensively viewing CCTV.

Officers have also been working alongside the force's specialist search teams who have been conducting searches in the vicinity, but so far there has been no indication of his whereabouts.

Detective Inspector Stuart Temple said: "We will keep searching and carrying out rigorous enquiries but we are also exploring the possibility that Michael has got into a vehicle somewhere in the vicinity of King's Mill Hospital, and has left the area.

"We are appealing to anyone who might have seen a gentleman matching his description getting into a car - maybe a taxi between 3 and 4pm on Tuesday, May 26, to get in touch with us, and for anyone who might know anything about Michael, no matter how small, to please provide us with that information.

If you have seen Mr Dennington or know where he might be, please call police on 101, quoting incident number 0758 of May 31, 2020.

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.