A community who rallied together to help search for missing girl Tia Sharp, joined in mourning the 12-year-old with a mass Chinese lantern release.

Hundreds of well-wishers from New Addington and the surrounding area met on Friday night at The Lindens, where the Mitcham girl’s body was found last week, to light the lanterns and release them into the night’s sky.

The body of Tia, who was first announced missing on August 3, sparking a mass search effort, was discovered in the loft space above her grandma’s home on August 10.

Her grandma’s boyfriend Stuart Hazell has been charged with her murder and has been remanded in custody until November.