THE mother of missing Ben Clarkson has joined friends, family and volunteers helping in the search for her son.

Lynda Clarkson has spoken of her frantic efforts to find -Ben, 22, who has been missing for nearly two weeks. Lynda and her partner Michael Smith joined friends and volunteers from the charity Missing People giving out flyers to shoppers on Coney Street, to raise awareness of the search for her son, and she has urged anyone with information about Ben to come forward.

She said: “Even the smallest details, which might feel insignificant, could tie some other bits of information together so please ring it in.”

Lynda and Michael have left their home in Leeds to stay in York ever since Ben went missing, and said they have spent hours searching for any sign of him and distributing posters around the city.

Michael said: “Everybody has been brilliant, very supportive, from traders putting up posters to students taking the posters to share.”

Lynda last saw Ben when he and his girlfriend visited her three days after they got home from a romantic Valentine’s weekend trip to Disneyland in Paris on Wednesday, February 19, a week and a half before Ben was last seen on Sunday, March 2.

“We just want him back. It’s surreal – I’m giving out these posters about Ben but I can’t look at them because that’s my son.”

Ben’s girlfriend Rachel Peatfield was with the volunteers yesterday, and said she still holds out hope for Ben. Police divers who were searching the Foss say those searches have now been concluded. Rachel added: “I have to have hope. Otherwise I won’t have anything. I still hope we will get Ben home, or even if he doesn’t want to come home I hope we will hear he is safe.”