THE father of York chef Claudia Lawrence said he had bought a present for his missing daughter in the hope she would turn up on Christmas Day.

But Peter Lawrence, 64, said the only present he wanted to receive this Christmas was the safe return of Claudia, who has not been seen since March 2009.

Speaking at a press conference in York, Mr Lawrence made another passionate plea for anybody who knows what has happened to his daughter to come forward.

He said: “It is now 21 months since Claudia disappeared. There is absolutely no sign of her or any news of what happened to her.

“It is in the week leading up to Christmas and for the family that is an extremely difficult time.

“If there is anybody out there who does have any information, perhaps this Christmas is a time to share it, either with the police or anonymously with Crimestoppers.

“Particularly I have been thinking of the person who had something to do with Claudia’s disappearance. It must be a very serious burden on them knowing what happened. So please, this Christmas, relieve yourself of that burden.”

Mr Lawrence, a solicitor from Slingsby, said he would be spending Christmas with his other daughter, Ali Sims, son-in-law, Danny, and grandchildren, Luke and Joshua.

He said: “We will try to make Christmas as normal as possible, especially with two young boys, but there will be times when they are in bed and it is just Ali and I together when we will obviously be extremely sad that Claudia is not there.

“If she turns up, there will certainly be a space for her and presents. But the best present, of course, would be to have Claudia there. To not have her here is dreadful.”

Mr Lawrence said he had a message from the officer leading the suspected murder investigation, Detective Superintendent Ray Galloway, who said the police were still committed to finding out what happened to Claudia.

Anyone with information to help the inquiry is asked to phone North Yorkshire Police on 0845 60 60 247 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.