TV presenter Fiona Phillips’s dad was found by Hampshire police officers after going missing from his retirement home.

Fiona, who was brought up in Southampton, has spoken of her gratitude to the “huge team” of officers that went looking for Phil Phillips, 76, who has incurable degenerative brain disease Alzheimer’s.

Mr Phillips was reported missing at around 4.40pm on Monday and an operation in the Southsea area was launched.

He was found in a ‘confused state’ by patrolling officers later that evening.

A spokesman for Hampshire Police said: “Whenever there are concerns for anyone that has gone missing, it is always a welcome relief when they are found safe and well and reunited with their family.”

Fiona, 50, has also revealed that her father was then admitted to a specialist dementia care home – and she was left livid when he was threatened with being sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

She said: “I was spitting with anger and emotion at the lack of support for people in the later stages of the disease, following a harrowing week in which my 76-year-old father, who has Alzheimer’s, was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and threatened with being sectioned under the Mental Health Act as no one could handle his symptoms.

“No one really wants dad now, apart from us, his family, who lack the space, the time and, to be truthful, the heart to have him with us, knowing that his disease will eventually drive us all insane, no matter how much we love him.”

Fiona, who also lost her mum Amy to the disease, has been a long-term campaigner for better understanding of and research into Alzheimer’s.

The mum-of-two, who is a former pupil of Millbrook Community School, famously quit GMTV in 2008 because of the pressures of juggling work, raising children and caring for her sick father.

She has often spoken frankly of her experiences and shared her family’s story in the Channel 4 documentary Mum, Dad, Alzheimer’s and Me.

After the ordeal with her dad’s care this week, she has hit out at the level of funding for research into the disease.

She added: “I also know that the only reason a cure for this cruel disease hasn’t yet been found, despite the UK boasting some of the world’s top scientists, is down to a scandalous lack of research funding.

“It has to change. For all our sakes. And in memory of those who already can’t remember who they are anymore.”