NORTH Yorkshire police say they are making enquiries into a number of “emerging lines of investigation,” as the search continues in Sand Hutton Gravel Pits.

Detective Superintendent Wayne Fox and his team are managing the enquiries after receiving “new information”

Police continue to search Sand Hutton Gravel Pits on the outskirts of York.

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Detective Superintendent Wayne Fox said: “I thank the public for the positive responses and new information received in support of the current phase of the investigation.

“Our focus is on finding Claudia and bringing those responsible for her disappearance and suspected murder to justice.”

Late last week North Yorkshire Police began searching a wooded area north of York after searches began earlier in the week in gravel pits fishing lake in Sand Hutton.

At the time, Detective Superintendent Wayne Fox said the search could last for days and thanked the public for “the positive responses.”

He said: “I thank the public for the positive responses and new information received in support of the current phase of the investigation.

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“Our focus is on finding Claudia and bringing those responsible for her disappearance and suspected murder to justice.”

Mr Fox did not disclose what information has prompted the search activity 12 years after Ms Lawrence went missing.

Earlier in the week, Ms Lawrence’s mother, Joan, said the new searches had left her in “utter shock.”

Mrs Lawrence told reporters she was “very, very churned up” about the latest developments in the investigation.

Police believe Ms Lawrence – who lived in the Heworth area of York and worked at York University – was murdered, although no body has ever been found.

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She was last seen on March 18 2009.

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