Frances Mary Embleton, a 24-year-old law graduate, was due to fly home to the United Kingdom last Monday - the day her 12-month working visa expired.

But she failed to turn up to her own farewell party last weekend and police have launched a missing persons inquiry.

Her distraught father Norman said that the family was shocked to hear the London College of Law graduate may have gambled her money away. “We are all very worried, we have no idea what has happened to her,” he said from the family home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

“It sounds very out of character – I didn’t know she was a gambler.

“She is a normal young girl, very friendly and outgoing, but this doesn’t sound like her at all. We were told be her friends she was missing after she didn’t go to her party."

Mr Embleton, who runs a building firm in Barnet, North London, said that the family had not heard from Frances for a week.

“I last spoke to her two weeks ago but would stay in regular contact with her through texts and e-mails but these have stopped. She had wanted to go to Australia for a year for some time away.

Ms Embleton was last seen by a friend at about 2pm on Saturday April 22, in Haymarket, near Sydney's Chinatown district. Police have described her as white/European in appearance with a fair complexion. She is 160cm tall, has blue/grey eyes and long blonde hair.

She was wearing a white top, black cargo pants and was carrying a pink handbag. A man, who did not want to be identified, told The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper he saw a "dead-ringer'' for Ms Embleton at pub in the centre of the city on Saturday.

He said a woman strongly resembling Ms Embleton approached his friends about 4.30pm at 3 Wise Monkeys, asking them to buy her a drink.

"They asked why - she said she'd been gambling at the casino, lost all her money and was thinking of not going to her farewell party,'' he said.

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