A mum has said she will never be able to express her gratitude to the thousands of strangers who helped find her missing daughter.

Megan Wilson was just 17 when she disappeared while at the T in the Park music festival in Scotland.

The Distington teen had been enjoying her first-ever festival when she became separated from friends on Sunday night. She never reappeared and after she failed to catch the bus the following morning they contacted her mum Shelly Wilson.

A major social media campaign launched to help find the missing girl, with Shelly's own appeal being shared more than 5,000 times.

It was thanks to social media that Megan was eventually found.

Shelly recalled: "Megan tried to find her way back but got lost. By the time she found the site the bus - and her friends - had gone.

"Whether her tent had been scavenged or what, we don't know, but her passport, purse, phone and most of her belongings had gone."

Megan made it to the welfare tent for dry clothes and then began trying to make her way home to West Cumbria.

"She ended up on a bus to Newcastle," Shelly continued, "and then tried to sneak onto a train to Carlisle.

"A train inspector saw her and asked if she was Megan Wilson - and said 'there's a Facebook post saying you're missing'."

The ticket inspector got word to Shelly and the British Transport Police, who took care of Megan at Carlisle station until her mum arrived.

Shelly said: "She was very tired and upset and distressed. She broke down crying and I broke down crying... It was the worst 24 hours of my life, the not-knowing.

"The online response though was absolutely amazing: I can never thank everybody enough for the messages of support and shares. I had complete strangers who lived 40 miles away from the festival messaging me and offering to go and look for her for me.

"Those words of comfort were so amazing - it really did make the difference between me cracking up and staying strong."

Reports of two teenage deaths did nothing to ease Shelly's fears, and she admits that even those people trying to help added to the concern.

"I had messages from people saying they had seen a girl matching her description - right down to her plait - lying unconscious," she said.

"It wasn't Megan, but it was somebody's little girl."

After a hot bath and a night in her own bed Megan is said to be recovering well.

Shelly added: "Megan is a bit traumatised and she says it's an experience she never wants to go through again."