A schoolgirl who had been missing from home for four days was found safe and well yesterday only minutes before her parents were due to make a public appeal for her return.

Sadie Coley, 17, had walked out of her home in Cornton, Stirling, on Monday evening after an argument with her mother Mary, 49.

Her father, Simon Coley, 52, a senior process engineer with British Gas, caught the first available flight out of Kazakhstan on Wednesday night after learning that Sadie was missing.

He arrived home yesterday morning and he and his wife prepared to face TV cameras and a news conference at Central Scotland Police headquarters at midday.

Less than half-an-hour before, however, with a prepared statement appealing for information that might speed their daughter's return, they learned that Sadie had been found in a friend's flat in Alva, Clackmannanshire.

After talking to her by telephone her parents hurriedly prepared another statement in its place - fortunately since Mr Coley barely got past the first line before being overcome by the emotion of it all.

"We are delighted that our daughter has been found safe and well," he said, before Chief Inspector Kevin Findlater, the officer in charge of the search, took over.

Sadie, he continued, had been unaware until that morning of the extent of the search for her, and when found by police was preparing to go into Alva Academy to sit her Intermediate 1 PE exam, which she was still intent on doing.

"We are just like any other family with the usual ups and downs. We have missed Sadie very much and the past few days have been extremely stressful for us. We are doubly grateful for all the help and assistance the police and media have given us."

They added that they knew what Madeleine McCann's parents were going through, adding: "We hope they have as happy an outcome as we have had today."

Sadie and her brother have had a number of changes of home in recent years because of the globetrotting nature of her father's job. They had been living in Holland and had moved to Hillfoots, near Alva, before moving to their current address.

As a result there were pressures which had blown a trivial argument about what time she got home out of proportion and led to the walk-out, Mr Findlater said.

"She is now a bit embarrassed about the attention all this has attracted," he added.

Around 50 police officers were engaged in the search for Sadie, and the breakthrough came on Thursday night when they had a reported sighting in Alva - significantly, from someone who knew her.

As for the resources deployed in the search, Mr Findlater said: "That is what we are here for. Many of us are parents ourselves and the reaction of Sadie's parents when they learned she was safe makes it all worth while."