PETER Lawrence OBE never gave up on the search for his daughter, Claudia Lawrence, who was last heard from and seen in March 2009.

Claudia, 35, of Heworth, was seen on CCTV on her way home from work as a chef at the University of York and failed to arrive for her 6am shift the next day.

After his daughter’s disappearance, Peter put out numerous appeals in the hope that someone would come forward with answers to let Claudia’s family and friends know what happened to her.

Mr Lawrence continued to appeal for those withholding information to come forward up until his death. In 2010, he told The Press “I’ll never give up hope, and I’ll never give up this campaign.”

Ten years after his daughter’s disappearance in 2019, Peter, who worked in a consulting role at a solicitors at Ware & Kay for 47 years, told The Press that the mystery over her fate and secrets kept by those who know what happened to her “eats away” at him, and that the uncertainty had seen his family “destroyed from the inside.”

In 2018, Mr Lawrence received an OBE in recognition for his services to the families of missing people, which he said he was “shocked,” to be awarded.

Peter was involved in plans to create new laws to help families look after the affairs of missing loved ones who have not been seen for 90 days or longer.

The legislation - known as Claudia’s Law - was given Royal Assent in Parliament in April 2017, following six years of campaigning by the Missing People charity and Peter. It came into affect in July 2019 following a push from York MP, Julian Sturdy.

The legislation allows families or friends to become legal guardian for a person’s affairs while they are missing and manage their financial arrangements.

“I got a letter from the Cabinet Office and I was in total shock. I feel I am receiving it on behalf of the Missing People charity who have been working on this legislation,” Peter told The Press in 2018.

“I have been working for the charity for nine years now and I’ve come across so many people who are suffering from not being able to deal with loves one’s affairs, mainly financial,” he added.

In 2019, Peter featured in a documentary titled ‘Claudia Lawrence: Missing or Murdered?’, which examined whether the 35-year-old woman might have been sex trafficked to Amsterdam and showed him praying with the Archbishop of York.

A book examining Claudia’s disappearance, titled ‘Gone’ was written in 2013 by Neil Root in cooperation with Peter and some of his daughter’s friends, with 35 per cent of the royalties going to the Missing People charity.