'Hugely significant' Claudia Lawrence leads

Police say 10 people have called the incident room about the BBC Crimewatch programme which was shown last night.

A further 10 people rang during the week in the buildup to the programme.

A series of new appeals for information were featured on the programme, including efforts to identify two vehicles and two men seen near Claudia’s home on Heworth Road, York, at around the time she disappeared in March 2009.

Members of the public have also been urged to go to North Yorkshire Police’s new microsite dedicated to the Claudia Lawrence investigation which went live at 9.30pm on Wednesday.

The Claudia microsite has been viewed 6,602 times so far and this is expected to increase over the coming days and weeks.

In addition, the appeal on the North Yorkshire Police Facebook page has been seen by 9,272 people and counting.

Crimestoppers is offering a £10,000 reward for information which leads to an arrest and conviction. This information can be passed on anonymously.

Police have revealed that a further 10 people have called them following the Crimewatch appeal on the Claudia Lawrence case. The total number of calls is now 20.

New appeals for information were featured on the programme, including two vehicles and two men seen near Claudia’s home on Heworth Road, York, in March 2009.

Crimestoppers is offering a £10,000 reward for information which leads to an arrest and conviction.

If you have any information that could assist the investigation, please contact North Yorkshire Police on 101.

Detectives working on the Claudia Lawrence case told Crimewatch new leads could be 'hugely significant'.

They are looking for two men and two vehicles. Police said one man had a rucksack, he walked up to a green door, possibly Claudia's. The woman at the door 'looked surprised' and let him in.

A forensic team has spent two months re-examining Claudia Lawrence's terraced home. Her mobile and rucksack have never been found. Her hair straighteners also appeared to be missing.

Claudia's sister, Ali Sims, told Crimewatch that the press portrayal at the time was "so unfair" and made her seem like a 'manhunter'.

Detectives investigating the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence want to trace two men and two vehicles seen near her home. It's five years since the chef disappeared. New forensic examinations found fingerprints of people who have not yet come forward and DNA on a cigarette butt in Claudia's car.

One man was seen outside her house in Heworth Road at 6.45am on March 19 - and was described as 55 to 65, with grey hair, and wearing a sandy mac.

Police also want to find a man in his 30s, about 5ft 8in tall, with brown hair with a fringe, who was seen in the road the week before her disappearance.

Police also want to trace the owners and users of a Vauxhall Astra van which was parked opposite her house at about 9pm on March 18, and a light hatchback car, possibly a Ford Focus, which braked unexpectedly in her road at 5.42am the next morning.

Detective Superintendent Dai Malyn, who is leading the new review of the Claudia Lawrence case has revealed that new evidence derived from calls made from Miss Lawrence's missing mobile phone suggests she had been spending time in the Acomb area of York in the weeks up to her disappearance.

He said "We believe she may have been socialising with a person or persons. Again, we would like to know who this was and where it was taking place."

Mr Malyn said he believed the silver Samsung D900 mobile was deliberately turned off by someone at about 12.10pm on March 19.

The detective said another new strand of the inquiry is focusing on tracing a man who told staff in a Co-op store at Tang Hall in York that he knew Miss Lawrence or used to work with her.

He said this was on April 1, about 10 days after she was reported missing.

Detectives investigating the disappearance of York University chef Claudia Lawrence are expected to reveal a series of new lines of inquiry on TV's Crimewatch programme tonight.

Claudia's sister Ali Sims is also interviewed on the BBC programme and she talks of the family's agony of not knowing what has happened to her

New forensic tests of Claudia Lawrence's home in York have uncovered the fingerprints of people who have not yet been identified.

Detectives investigating her disappearance in 2009 have announced the new line of inquiry on the fifth anniversary of the day she failed to turn up for work at the University of York. She was last seen the night before on CCTV.

Detectives investigating the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence have revealed a new forensic examination of her house has uncovered the fingerprints of people who still have not come forward five years after the university chef disappeared.

Senior officers announced a series of new lines of inquiry on the fifth anniversary of the day Miss Lawrence failed to turn up for work at York University in 2009.

North Yorkshire Police launched a review of the investigation last year after a new major crime unit was established by the force.

North Yorkshire Police has announced a series of new lines of inquiry on the fifth anniversary of the day Claudia Lawrence failed to turn up for work at York University in 2009.

The force launched a review of the investigation last year after a new major crime unit was established by the force.

Claudia was 35 when she was reported missing by her father, Peter, on March 20 2009.

She was last seen at around 3.05pm on March 18, walking back towards her home, and that night she spoke to both her parents on the phone.

Her family believe something happened to her after she left for work early on March 19.

Detective Superintendent Dai Malyn, who is leading the new review of the case, said his team has spent two months re-examining Miss Lawrence's small, terraced home in the Heworth area of York and this work supports that theory.

Police have said before that Miss Lawrence's mobile and rucksack have never been found.

Today they said her hair straighteners also appeared to be missing.

Mr Malyn said: "From the review of all the evidence available, including the fact that Claudia's bed was made and it appears that she had eaten breakfast and brushed her teeth, it is our belief that she had left for work on the morning of Thursday 19 March 2009.

"What is unusual is that Claudia's GHD hair straighteners - model number 14.4.1B and purchased in May 2007 - were missing from her home.

"From our inquiries, it is doubtful that she would take them to work in her blue and grey Karrimor bag which has also never been found."

He said techniques not available in 2009 had uncovered additional fingerprints that need to be identified.

Mr Malyn said: "There is also other DNA material from items examined in the house that have been recovered. Forensic work is ongoing in respect of these items."

He told a press conference at York police station that his team had also found the DNA profile of an unknown man on a cigarette butt in Miss Lawrence's Vauxhall Corsa.

The car was in a local garage at the time of the disappearance but Mr Malyn said the profile did not relate to any man who had yet come forward.

The detective said it was reasonable to consider whether there was a link between this man and an individual spotted by a witness who has been known throughout the five-year investigation as the "left-handed smoker".

This man was seen smoking with a woman on Melrosegate Bridge at around 5.35am on March 19 - when Miss Lawrence would have been walking to work.

Mr Malyn said: "Despite numerous high-profile appeals, neither the man or the woman have been traced. We believe it is important to repeat the appeal for any information that could identify these people.

"In particular, the man who smokes with his left hand could be significant to the investigation in relation to the male DNA profile found on a cigarette butt in Claudia's car."