POLICE are expected to resume the search for the body of missing teenager Jenny Nicholl today.

Detectives cordoned off a septic tank at a farm on the outskirts of Richmond, North Yorkshire, on Friday, and spent about five hours at the site.

Officers revisited the farm again yesterday.

It is understood nothing of significance has been found yet, but police are expected to return to the area over the next couple of days for further investigations.

The search comes only days after a man appeared in court charged with Jenny's murder.

The underground tank is in a small field at Woodhouse Farm, which is on the edge of the Sandbeck Plantation, where Jenny's teddy bear and stereo were found buried last year.

The plantation is less than a mile from the Holly Hill Inn where Jenny's car was found abandoned in the car park, four days after her disappearance on June 30, 2005.

Police were alerted to the septic tank when the occupiers of the farmhouse said their sewage system was not working.

The elderly couple said it had become blocked about two years ago.

The tank, which has been examined, takes overflow from the couple's farm system.

Jenny, who would now be 21, left her family home in Bolton Avenue, Richmond, on June 30, 2005, saying she would not be back that night.

Her parents, Brian and Ann Nicholl, never saw her again.

Despite a search by North Yorkshire Police, her body has never been found.

Posters appealing for information that were put up by Jenny's family are still displayed in many of Richmond's shops.

Posters were also been attached to gateposts and trees in the countryside surrounding the market town.

Four months after her disappearance, police announced their investigation had become a murder inquiry.

As well as Jenny's body, police are looking for her missing possessions, which include a dark grey rucksack, silver jewellery box and Nokia 5210 mobile telephone.

David Hodgson, 47, of Olav Road, Richmond, was arrested last Wednesday morning and charged with Jenny's murder. He appeared in court later the same day.

Mr and Mrs Nicholl attended the hearing at Northallerton Magistrates' Court accompanied by detectives and family liaison officers.

Mr Hodgson is due to appear at Teesside Crown Court, on Thursday.

He has previously admitted having a relationship with the teenager.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police on 0845-60-60-247 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555-111.