The pizza and chips lie cold uneaten in the oven. A meal ready for a child who has yet to come home.

For missing schoolgirl Tia Sharp's maternal grandmother it would be too painful to take it out of the cooker.

Perhaps fearing that in doing so it would result in some terrible news. And so it waits as it has done for four days now.

Christine Sharp, who was at work during the day last Friday, said: "Tia promised that she would be home by six.

"I've still got her dinner in the oven. It's pizza and chips and I can't bear to take it out."

The 47-year-old has she could not understand why her granddaughter has not been seen after she left her council house.

She said: "There were workmen here on the estate yet nobody saw her leave."

It is the same for all the family. Her Tia's stepfather screamed with emotion today: "Just find my little girl."

David Niles, 29, said the family were "in bits" as the search for the 12-year-old entered its fourth day.

"I just want to find my little girl," he said, wearing a find Tia campaign T-shirt. How would you feel if it was your daughter?

"We're in bits, the whole country has helped us and is supporting us.

"I haven't slept in four days. Natalie (Tia's mother) is in bits. The police have done everything."

Tia has not been seen since leaving grandmother Christine Sharp's home in New Addington, south-east London, at around midday on Friday.

It was believed the last person who saw her was Mrs Sharp's partner, Stuart Hazell. But today Mr Niles said he was unsure about that.

He added: "The last time I saw her was on Thursday morning before going to work (at the family home in Mitcham).

"She had a friend stay over. She was good as gold. I know I am not her real dad, but I have been there since day dot.

"I have fed her and bathed her. I just want her home. When she left the house she shouted 'Bye' and 'See you by six'.

"She always takes her phone but it was dead."

Mrs Sharp, speaking from her terraced home, said she hoped an image of her granddaughter taken outside the nearby Co-op on Thursday would jog people's memories and bring forward new information.

"We're hoping the pictures will jog someone's memory, yes," she said.

She thanked the community for supporting the family but declined to speak at length.

A man inside the house, who did not give his name, said the family did not want to talk and were going through a terrible time.

Outside the house a solitary candle burned in a glass holder with a plastic bottle covering it.

Tia vanished after telling relatives she was going to the Whitgift Centre in Croydon town centre.

Police have been scouring hours of CCTV footage but said they had not found any trace of the schoolgirl, who has never gone missing before.

Hundreds of Missing posters have been distributed around New Addington and Tia's face looks out from most local shops and noticeboards.

At a bus stop close to her grandmother's house in The Lindens, well-wishers have left dozens of burning candles and tealights with hand-written signs asking for Tia to be brought home.

Earlier, the tearful mother of missing 12-year-old Tia Sharp said last night that she thought her daughter had been taken.

Natalie Sharp, 31, said: "We all feel terrible. We think she's been taken but we just don't know. There is no CCTV.

She also said a witness saw the 12-year-old leave the house on her own on Friday.

She said: "I have an independent witness that she left on her own walking down the road."

Speaking of the family's heartbreak, she added: "We know absolutely nothing. I wish to god I could tell you something. My baby girl walked out and she vanished."

The distraught grandmother of the missing schoolgirl said the family was pinning its hopes on fresh CCTV images to find her.

Her comments come as stars Gary Lineker and singer Jessie J today gave their support to the campaign to find her.

Police released a CCTV image of Tia at a Co-op store in New Addington, on Thursday which could jog people's memories.

Her grandmother Christine Sharp, 46, said: "We are hoping that those pictures will jog someone's memory.

"We are obviously very distressed and anything like this might help us find her."

It came as Lineker, who is leading the BBC's Olympic coverage, and Jessie J, who attended the Brit School in Croydon as a teenager, supported the appeal by retweeting a message appealing for information.

X-Factor presenter Louis Walsh, north London rapper Wretch 32, former boxer Lennox Lewis and comedian Peter Serafinowicz also posted tweets about Tia.

Last night the youngster's uncle David Sharp urged anyone who knows of his niece's whereabouts to come forward.

He told a press conference: "I just want to say to Tia, ‘I just want you to come home. You're not in any trouble'. Anyone who knows where she is or has any information, please come to us or please phone the police."

Scotland Yard say there have been 55 reports of sightings of Tia, although these are yet to be confirmed.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola, from the Metropolitan Police's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: "We've had one neighbour who's reported possibly seeing her walking to the bus stop but as yet that is uncorroborated."

Tia did not have her young person's travelcard with her but some bus and tram drivers let children travel without one.

Police believe she had a small amount of cash with her, but she did not have her mobile phone.

Mr Sharp, who was supported by two family friends with all three wearing "Missing" T-shirts with appeals to find Tia on them, added: "I want to say thank you to the police for doing everything that they can, and the public for their support and being out there day and night.

"I urge you not to stop, I want Tia found, so please do what you're doing. Tia's a 12-year-old normal girl. She has never run away, she's got no reason to run away.

"She's a playful child, she's not an adult ... but she's very clued-up in travelling and local areas and people she knows."

Police have been searching gardens and school grounds near the house of Tia's grandmother while local residents have helped with the search by handing out leaflets and posters.

Police have said they are particularly keen to hear from anyone in the Lindens area of New Addington who has information and appealed for any bus or tram drivers in the Croydon area who recognise Tia's description to contact them. She is known to frequent the Croydon, Mitcham and Wimbledon areas.

Tia is white, 4ft 5in and slim, and was wearing FCUK glasses.

She was dressed in a yellow bandeau top over a white bra with visible cross straps, light grey leopard print leggings, and black and pink Nike high-top trainers.

Anyone with information should call Merton police on phone number 101, quoting reference 12MIS025216.

Anyone with information about Tia's whereabouts should call 0208 721 4005.