CLAUDIA COPS TO SEARCH HIDDEN LOFT

DETECTIVES plan to re-enter missing Claudia Lawrence's home after it emerged that a hidden loft above her bedroom may never have been physically searched.

- Paul Jeeves

North Yorkshire Police want to conduct a fresh sweep of the still vacant property after further potential evidence was discovered when the chef's mother, Joan, returned to the house for a recording of the Answers for Claudia podcast.

In a new episode of the series, the team make fresh discoveries of items that have sparked police interest. Acting on a tip-off to the podcast, they find personal items in the pockets of Claudia's jackets two tissues and an opened packet of chewing gum.

This evidence could hold crucial DNA clues as to who she was with before she vanished without trace in March 2009.

They also discover a loft hatch inside a row of fitted wardrobes which, it transpires, may not have been searched by police before.

As a result of the findings, the case's new senior investigating officer is seeking permission from Joan, 81, to return to Claudia's twobed terraced home in Heworth, York.

This will be the first time in the best part of a decade police have been inside her home and could herald a major development in the long-running mystery.