A FLORAL tribute to missing York chef Claudia Lawrence has been discovered at a North Yorkshire beauty spot, with an accompanying picture of her and the message: "She is in the water...God bless her."

A picture of the flowers and message were released today by Martin Dales, the friend and former spokesman for Claudia's father Peter, speaking to mark the first anniversary of Peter's death last February.

Mr Dales said a member of the public had found the floral tribute at a beauty spot on January 28.

He said they had posted a report about this on the findclaudia website and had also informed North Yorkshire Police.

He said he did not know whether the message was of any validity or significance, and said this was a matter for the police.

He declined to reveal the location of the beauty spot but indicated it was not at the gravel pits near Sand Hutton which were searched by North Yorkshire Police last year, with nothing of significance found.

North Yorkshire Police said this afternoon that the person who left the item had been identified as a spiritualist and they had been spoken to by the investigation team.

"There are no substantive links to the inquiry," said a force spokesman.

Mr Dales said he was giving the press conference because Peter, before his death, had asked him to keep Claudia in 'public lights' and ensure she was not forgotten.

He said it was vital that people came forward and reported anything they knew or had found, such as the floral tribute, in case they were of significance.

He said he had been friends with Peter for nearly 40 years and shared his search for Claudia for 12 years, and missed him hugely.

Mr Lawrence, 74, died last February without ever knowing what happened to Claudia.

The 35-year-old University of York chef was last seen more than 12 years ago in March 2009, close to her home in Heworth, York.

Police believe she was murdered but no body has ever been found.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed last September that they had drained a fishing pond at Sand Hutton gravel pits as part of the renewed search for Claudia.

Officers marked off a 700-foot stretch of land near the gravel pits and dug up a single three foot deep hole, while about 40 officers searched the area with sticks and a team of underwater divers searched the lakes.

Police said later that they had finished searching the gravel pits and that the searches have yielded no major new clues.

Detective Superintendent Wayne Fox, who is leading the investigation, confirmed that 'nothing of obvious significance' was found during searches of part of the wooded area and in the smaller of the two lakes at the gravel pits.

He said: "A small number of items were recovered during the two-week search. Whilst these items are being assessed for their forensic potential, any relevance to Claudia’s disappearance has not currently been established."