CCTV images of missing Claudia released by police for first time

PREVIOUSLY unseen closed circuit television footage of Claudia Lawrence has been released as detectives step up their murder inquiry ahead of the missing woman's 36th birthday.

The CCTV images show Miss Lawrence leaving York University, where she worked as a chef in Goodricke College, on March 18 last year – the day she was last seen alive.

Footage from other security cameras on the same day shows her walking past a parade of shops in Melrosegate on the way to her home in Heworth Road in York.

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The latest appeal for information is due to be screened tonight on the BBC's Crimewatch programme, which is expected to feature an interview with Miss Lawrence's father, Peter. The officer leading the investigation, Detective Superintendent Ray Galloway, is also due to travel to London to appear in the studio.

Det Supt Galloway will make an appeal for the driver of a silver vehicle, which was filmed by CCTV cameras driving along Melrosegate, to come forward.

The vehicle was seen on both March 18 and the following day. The cameras filmed the vehicle stopping for a couple of minutes at a lay-by on both days, as well as on March 25.

Mr Lawrence, 63, a solicitor from Slingsby in North Yorkshire, has joined forces with his daughter's friends to organise an awareness day in York city centre tomorrow. The event is being staged on the eve of Miss Lawrence's 36th birthday.

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She was last seen walking close to her Heworth Road home on the afternoon of March 18 last year, and detectives upgraded the missing person inquiry to a murder investigation after a month.

The North Yorkshire Police inquiry team has been focusing on Miss Lawrence's complex personal life.

Anyone with information can contact North Yorkshire Police on 0845 6060247 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.