Missing dancer, 19, f led from hospital in her socks into snow
A MAJOR police hunt was under way last night for a teenage Royal Ballet School pupil who vanished from hospital into the snow wearing few clothes, despite a temperature of -5C.
Ashleigh Fair, 19, was last seen leaving the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading at 9.30am yesterday dressed only in tracksuit bottoms, a pink and green jumper and pink socks.
Police believe she took a taxi to Cumberland Place, near Marble Arch in central London, where she was dropped off at 11.37am.
Last night, Ashleigh’s parents Ali- son Fair, 53, deputy head of career education at Eton College, Windsor, and Nigel Fair, 60, a theatre group worker and former singer, were unavailable for comment at their home in Maidenhead.
A police spokesman said: ‘We know that Ashleigh arrived at Cumberland Place. There is still great concern for her as she is ill and not wearing appropriate clothing.
‘We are continuing to appeal for information to locate Ashleigh. It is believed that she may have travelled to London in a taxi from Southern Hill, Reading.’ Detective Sergeant Emily Evans, of Thames Valley Police, said: ‘We are very concerned for Ashleigh’s wellbeing.
‘She is vulnerable and unwell and we are also concerned that she is not wearing appropriate clothing for the weather.
‘I would ask anyone who sees her, or has any information which they think could lead to us locating her, to please call us on 999.’
Ashleigh, who has a younger sister, was a pupil at Newlands Girls’ School, a single-sex comprehensive school in Maidenhead, and trained at The Royal Ballet School’s White Lodge in Richmond, west London.
The centre trains young dancers from the age of 11.
On its website, the school describes itself as the first step towards a career in classical dance.
It states: ‘Classical ballet is the principal dance discipline taught at the school. The school’s own carefully constructed system of training covering all aspects of training.
‘It is the means by which students are prepared for a career with the world’s top dance companies.
‘Full-time students of The Royal Ballet School receive a broad education, designed to give them experience of a wide range of roles within the dance sector.’
‘There is great concern for her’