THE father of missing Malton woman Claudia Lawrence has said life is getting “worse not better” the longer his daughter is missing.

Peter Lawrence was speaking 14 months after the York University chef went missing.

“I can’t say that the passing of time makes the stress any less, if anything it gets worse for me and her mother Joan as parents and Ali as her sister – we all miss her very much indeed.

“Finding Claudia is the sole purpose of our campaign and as a family we rely very much on the support of the public.”

He added that any issues with North Yorkshire police over the handling of the inquiry had been resolved.

He said: “The police are continuing their investigation while we continue our campaign – the aims are the same to find out what happened to Claudia.”

A team of 20 to 30 officers is still dedicated to the case and believes the most likely theory is that Claudia has come to harm after meeting someone she knew as she walked to work on the morning of March, 19 last year.

The only belongings that appear to be missing from her home in York are the Karrimor rucksack she carried her chef’s whites in and her mobile phone.

Mr Lawrence, who lives in Slingsby, said not knowing what has happened to 36-year-old Claudia was the hardest to cope with.

“Whatever the resolution – and we still hope Claudia will be back with us – the situation needs to be resolved for the sake of her family and friends.”

Martin Dales, Mr Lawrence’s friend and spokesman, said the intention was to continue raising awareness of Claudia’s disappearance across the country.

He said: “The unrelenting and ever-demanding campaign to find Claudia continues and more information is still needed from the public to assist the police in their ongoing investigation as to her whereabouts.

“It is clear that someone is withholding the evidence that is needed to resolve this matter which is causing a huge amount of work for the police and distress for her family and friends.”

Anyone who has any information which could help the inquiry can phone North Yorkshire Police on 0845 6060247 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.