A mother whose son disappeared with her teenage daughter in Egypt six months ago today made an emotional plea for them to get in touch.

Moses Phillips, 23, took his younger sister Beatrice Anita Phillips, then 15, from her home in Isleworth to Cairo on April 24, weeks before she was due to sit her GCSEs.

A solitary text message from Moses that evening, followed by a call from Beatrice the following day, is the last their distraught mother Ivy Phillips has heard from the pair.

Ms Phillips is particularly worried about the wellbeing of her daughter, now 16, as she has bipolar disorder and did not have her medication with her when she went missing.

"Moses, my son, please just find a place in your heart to forgive me for whatever I've done. I need you to bring my daughter back," she said.

"You know how we suffered together to raise this child, and I can't imagine what she's going through now."

Ms Phillips described the last six months as a 'nightmare' for herself and her two sons, and said she didn't know how she was still living.

She told getwestlondon Moses had gone to Egypt earlier this year to study Arabic, before returning to take his sister. She said there had been no indication Beatrice was about to leave.

"I don't think she knew herself she was going to be taken. She wasn't feeling very well at the time and she wasn't in her right state of mind," she added.

"She's very lively and very beautiful. Her medication's very important. If she doesn't take it she will be ill.

"Moses has been a very good child to me. He's everything to me. He was always a very intelligent and obedient child, and I don't know how he got to this stage."

* Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, if dialling from the UK. You can also text Missing People on 116000 or visit www.missingpeople.org.uk. Those calling from outside the UK are asked to dial 0044 20 8247 6650.