SPECIALIST police officers searched a cave yesterday for the body of shopworker Jenny Nicholl.

A confined-space search team from Northumbria Police's marine unit was called in to check a tunnel on the outskirts of Jenny's home town of Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Detectives fear the 20-year-old's body may have been dumped in one of the hundreds of caves and lead mines in the Yorkshire Dales.

The cave system near Culloden Tower, on the banks of the River Swale, is said to be popular with local teenagers.

Jenny was known to have camped in the area. Her car was found less than a mile away, at the Holly Hill Inn.

An officer spent about 30 minutes exploring the cave.

He brought a dirty woollen hat to the surface. But it is not thought the item is connected with the murder inquiry and the search was given up as fruitless.

Lead mines on Downholme Moor, near Richmond, have also been searched in recent weeks.

Jenny was seen camping on the moor a week before her disappearance.

Swaledale cave rescue expert Peter Bridgestock said it was possible to hide a body underground and for it never to be found.

He said: "Someone once told me there are more than 1,000 lead mines in Swaledale.

"You could hide a body and nobody would ever find it, although you would need a lot of knowledge to do it.

"There are lots of mines, they are hard to find and they are very dangerous, with hazards such as loose rock, water and carbon dioxide gas."

Mr Bridgestock, a member of Swaledale Outdoor Club, added: "The cave near Culloden Tower is the sort of place local youths go for a drink."

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "The search of the cave was one of many that have been undertaken."

Police also searched moorland on the road between Richmond and Leyburn, near Waithwith Bank, yesterday.