THE mother of missing chef Claudia Lawrence has criticised police for focusing on her daughter’s private life.

Joan Lawrence also claimed she felt the investigation team never treated her as if she was Claudia’s mum.

Speaking on television yesterday evening, Mrs Lawrence said: “I never felt like her mum all the time with the police.

“The way I’m interviewed when they talk to me – they treat me like I could be anybody.”

Speaking of the search itself, she said the police had placed too much emphasis on Claudia’s private life.

“From day one they have focused on one line of thought and one line of inquiry,” she said.

“Perhaps a wider field might have helped.”

The officer leading the search had previously described the missing 36-year-old as having a “complicated” private life. However, her mother said: “The person they have focused on isn’t the Claudia I know.

“There must be a balance between sensitivity and finding Claudia.”

Mrs Lawrence went on to describe her heartache after 14 months of not seeing her daughter.

But she said she felt Claudia was still alive somewhere.

“People have said to me they are surprised I don’t stay in bed all day, but that wouldn’t do any good,” she said.

“I believe she is being held against her will somewhere. But not knowing if she is dead or alive is horrendous.

“I won’t change my phone number because it’s the only one Claudia knows.”

North Yorkshire Police responded to Mrs Lawrence’s comments by saying she had the “comprehensive support of dedicated police liaison officers”.

Mrs Lawrence also relived the first few days of Claudia’s disappearance, close to Mothers’ Day last year.

She said: “It was Mothers’ Day that Sunday and Claudia was due to work. She knew where I was on Mothering Sunday and she would have phoned me no matter what.”