A MISSING Jarvis employee not seen since he walked out of his York office more than a month ago has turned up safe and well.

James Stephen Venney, 49, of Southfield Road, Pocklington, was picked up at a West Yorkshire railway station by his wife on Saturday, police said.

Mr Venney had been missing since he left his desk at the York headquarters of Jarvis on May 1. He is believed to have been suffering from acute stress when he disappeared.

Mr Venney, a management accountant with the road and rail giant, is thought to have travelled to Plymouth during his disappearance.

Humberside Police said it appeared he had then travelled to Cumbria, from where he had decided to return home of his own accord.

A police spokesman said: "He is described as safe and well. It appears he had arrived from the Cumbria area."

The spokesman added that it looked like he had decided to return home in the light of the publicity generated by his disappearance.

Police forces in Humberside, Devon and Cornwall, Cumbria and Lancashire were all involved in the hunt for Mr Venney's whereabouts. No one at Jarvis was available for comment.

Updated: 10:33 Tuesday, June 03, 2003