New information on Claudia too late, says dad

Marking the first anniversary, Peter Lawrence said he was astounded that information had only just been given to the police about a mystery boyfriend Miss Lawrence had spent the night with just two days before she went missing.

"It's far too late," Mr Lawrence said. "It's unbelievable, in fact, that someone who has previously been interviewed by the police has suddenly remembered that he had a conversation with Claudia the day before she disappeared.

"First of all, that in itself is unbelievable, and secondly the fact that Claudia - who was always tired with her very physical job and with her early shifts and went to bed at 9.30 at night by the latest during the week - apparently said she was up until about 4.30 in the morning.

"On the other hand, it's another bit of information that's come forward and it has to be investigated."

Mr Lawrence has campaigned for information about his daughter's disappearance for the last 12 months and spent the day touring TV studios in his tireless bid to keep the case in the public eye.

Speaking at a press conference in Leeds, he said detectives had not told him the name of the man Claudia was said to have been with, but was confident he would have known about him.

He also said he believed his daughter was still alive. "I just feel that I would have felt differently if she had died," Mr Lawrence said, "I may be proved wrong but I hope not."

He urged people to cast their minds back to a year ago to see if they could help with the investigation.

"Please - anybody out there is either a parent themselves, or they are very close to someone who is a parent, they must know what we're going through - so my plea as always, and especially today, is if you have any information, no matter how unimportant you think it is, please tell either the police or Crimestoppers."