THE mother of missing chef Claudia Lawrence has continued her campaign to keep her daughter’s disappearance in the public eye by creating special leaflets that can be tucked in Christmas cards.

Joan Lawrence has worked with charity Missing People to design the leaflets using a previously unpublished picture of her youngest daughter, which she says is much closer to the way Claudia looked when she vanished on her way to work in York in 2009, aged 35.

The familiar picture of Claudia used since the early days of her disappearance showed her with lighter hair, but Mrs Lawrence said her daughter always had dark hair and believes the photo used by police had been taken after a holiday in the sun.

Mrs Lawrence, who is originally from Darlington but now lives in Malton, said she has had a big response from businesses and hotels who have agreed to put a leaflet in each of the Christmas cards they send out, spreading the message far and wide.

She acknowledged that her family were lucky in that Claudia remained in the public eye several years after going missing and added: “I hope these leaflets will help someone, even if it doesn’t bring any news about Claudia.

“Just getting the phone number out for Missing People might help another mother this Christmas.”

She added: “I was trying to think of something different to keep Claudia’s name out there. It’s such a simple idea, people can pop them in their Christmas cards and on to notice boards.

“I want to make people think about what it’s like to have a child missing at Christmas.

“It doesn’t matter how old they are, they are still your child.”

Mrs Lawrence has been working closely with the new police team investigating her daughter’s disappearance, who she said had started again “at square one”.

She added: “I’m going through sheer hell at the moment. The new team are excellent and are going over everything again.

“If there is anyone out there with information they will be given a much better reception.

“Someone out there knows something. I’m asking them to think about what they would do if it was their child.”

Mrs Lawrence asked The Northern Echo to pass on her thanks to people in Darlington for their continued support, particularly for the cards and letters that she continues to receive.

She said: “Just knowing that there are people back home who care gives me the strength and courage to get through each day.”