Search for Claudia switches back to university after tip-off - VIDEO

Specialist search teams from North Yorkshire Police have been combing land close to York University since Tuesday after detectives received a tip-off from a member of the public.

A police spokeswoman stressed the new information was unconnected to a fresh lead which emerged last week that the York University chef had been on a date with a mystery boyfriend less than two days before she was last seen alive.

The searches are the first to have been carried out for several months and are being focused on an area of land known as The Outgang in Heslington on the outskirts of York.

It is understood, however, that search teams have not been involved in any excavations and are simply carrying out sweeps of the land.

Martin Dales, the spokesman for the missing woman's father, Peter Lawrence, said: "We are very pleased that the police are continuing to conduct searches for Claudia in what can often prove to be a thankless task.

"The hope remains that these latest searches will finally resolve what has happened to her.

"But we have had a number of similar situations where new leads have unfortunately not provided a resolution and hopes have been dashed."

The new information which triggered the searches was received over the weekend, and represents the latest in a series of fresh leads in recent weeks.

A renewed appeal on the BBC's Crimewatch programme last month gave rise to a "potentially significant lead", although this has since been discounted.

One of the biggest developments in the inquiry in recent months emerged on Wednesday last week when detectives revealed that Miss Lawrence had told a friend she had been out with a boyfriend until the early hours less than two days before she was last seen.

Miss Lawrence, 36, was last seen walking near her Heworth Road home in York on March 18 last year and police upgraded the inquiry to a murder investigation the following month.