The man who saw a driver apparently struggling with two children in a car near the spot where Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared first contacted police six days ago, it emerged last night.

The man, a taxi driver, told police he had seen a man "thrashing" arms around and swerving across the road as he drove away from the girls' home town of Soham, Cambridgeshire, on the night of Sunday, August 4, the day the ten-year-olds vanished.

His call was prioritised in the Cambridgeshire Police system on August 9 and a team of eight officers was told to contact him - along with 30 other jobs - on August 10, this Saturday, a police spokeswoman said last night.

His statement was revealed at a news conference earlier yesterday, when reporters were told it was only received late on Sunday night.

A force spokeswoman said: "We were contacted by an outside force on Wednesday, August 7, at 10.46am.

"The force reported that they had been contacted by a taxi driver who was holidaying in their area. The outside force passed details to us that the man had reported driving behind a car on the A142 between Ely and Newmarket on Sunday, August 4, which was driving erratically and that he saw two young girls in the same vehicle and the man was waving his arms about.

"On Saturday, August 10, the action was allocated to an eight-strong inquiry team along with about 30 other tasks.

"A full statement was taken from the witness early Sunday afternoon, the details of which were the subject of an appeal today."

Det Chief Insp Andy Hebb said: "We accept that people may feel frustrated that they do not receive an immediate police response to the information they're providing. You can be assured that it does not mean it is seen as unimportant. All information received is taken extremely seriously."

Police are now scouring CCTV footage and speed camera films from along the route for any sign of the metallic dark green four-door saloon car the man was driving.

A dark green car was also spotted in Soham town centre on the same night the girls vanished, fuelling fears its driver was an opportunistic abductor on the prowl who now has the ten-year-olds held captive.

Police said they hoped the sighting could be the first major breakthrough.