POLICE may be forced to stop using phone records to trace a missing York civil servant because of privacy red tape.

Officers using the prodecure to hunt Peter Critchlow yesterday discovered the 25-year-old's phone was switched on and off in York at 5.40pm on Monday and at 10.30pm the same day in Northampton.

Peter's family live at a Northampton farm, and his phone was turned on just over a mile from their house.

Police - who scoured the River Foss as fears grew for the missing pensions worker - are sure it was Peter using his mobile. He was still missing todayg.

But now Peter's frantic family are "furious" officers may - from today - no longer use phone signals to pinpoint his whereabouts.

Peter's anxious brother, Ian, said: "My dad is absolutely fuming. The police said they can no longer track Peter by phone because it would be an invasion of his privacy. We've given them permission, but they need Peter's consent.

"They say he may not want to be found, but we are really worried. We don't know his frame of mind. It is ridiculous. We've still not heard from him and his phone's our only link"

Officers were today waiting for confirmation from police chiefs before they continued tracing the phone.

Sgt Judith Smith, of York Police, said "complicated" privacy laws meant they needed regular updates.

Ian, 28, said his parents, Norma and John, were still desperately worried about Peter, who was last seen in York early on Saturday.

Updated: 10:48 Wednesday, November 19, 2003