WHEN Daisy Ridley opened her presents on her ninth birthday yesterday there was one thing she wished for most which was not there - her mother.

Since her journalist mother Yvonne was captured by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan she has been desperate to hear her voice.

Her sadness coincided with the Taliban announcing yesterday that Yvonne Ridley had committed a "serious crime".

The regime's information minister also suggested the Sunday Express reporter may be a member of the special services.

Daisy had hoped the phone call she had been waiting for would come as she opened her presents at her private boarding school in Cumbria.

But as another 24 hours passed with no further word, the shine was taken out of the young girl's day. Daisy's family is trying to help her cope with the situation by saying Yvonne, 43, who used to work for The Northern Echo, had left her telephone in her hotel before embarking on a "big adventure".

Her sister, Gillian, drove from the North-East to Windermere to be with Daisy and take her for a birthday lunch.

Daisy's grandmother, Joyce Ridley, of West Pelton, County Durham, said: "It certainly isn't the birthday Daisy had hoped for.

"She has been desperate to hear her mummy's voice for days now and she thought it would come on her birthday.

"She has lots of gifts but the only one she really wanted was to talk to her mother. It is becoming very hard for her now and we have been careful not to alarm her too much. But she understands that something is wrong, although she doesn't appreciate the gravity of the situation.

"We have told her that Yvonne left her phone by mistake in her hotel when she went on her adventure.

Wendy Ellis, the head of Windermere St Anne's School, Cumbria, said: "We are trying to keep life as normal as possible for Daisy and the other pupils here.

"We always make sure the birthdays of pupils are celebrated and Daisy's will be no different."

Mrs Ridley added: "We told Daisy we will have a big birthday party when her mummy gets home."

Northern & Shell, publishers of the Sunday Express, said the firm's editorial director and a lawyer would be flying to Pakistan to aid efforts to free Yvonne.