A British model has been left traumatised after she was drugged and kidnapped in Milan while her captor sought to “auction” her on the internet if her agent did not pay $300,000 (£230,000), Italian police said Saturday.

Police said the model, who has not been named, was sent by her UK agent to Milan for a photo shoot on July 10 and was brutally kidnapped the following day by a man who posed as a photographer. They are searching for at least one accomplice.

“The psychological pressure on the girl has been extreme,” said Serena Ferrari, one of the senior police from Milan involved in the investigation. “She was very afraid.”