Hunt for Claudia Lawrence enters new phase

Police investigating the disappearance and suspected murder of the York chef Claudia Lawrence are to begin new forensic tests inside her house.

Experts will spend two weeks inside her terraced home in the Heworth area of the city, looking for clues which may lead them to her killer and finally solve the mystery of just what happened to her.

Claudia, who was aged 35, has not been seen since Wednesday March 18 2009 when she finished her shift for the day at the University of York.

A month later, detectives announced that they were treating her disappearance as suspected murder.

Now a newly created Major Crime Unit within North Yorkshire Police is launching a new review of the case. Forensic examinations of Claudia's home were carried out at the time of her disappearance, but detectives want to establish whether advances in forensic science could pinpoint evidence inside the house.

Claudia's house has remained largely untouched since she vanished, but police say that at some point in the future it could be sold and any chance of finding forensic evidence would be lost.

The case has been one of the most high-profile police investigations in recent years. At one stage, more than 100 officers were involved in the enquiry and the search for Claudia extended to Cyprus and the Republic of Ireland.

Her parents, Peter and Joan Lawrence have made numerous appeals for information, but without success.