THE father of York chef Claudia Lawrence has made an emotional plea to the people of Scotland to help find his missing daughter.

Yesterday, almost seven months to the day after the 35-year-old vanished without trace, Peter Lawrence, 63, handed out leaflets at Edinburgh Waverley railway station and spoke to members of the public, appealing to them to be vigilant for any suspicious activity.

Claudia, who lives in Heworth Road, York, and works at the University of York’s Roger Kirk Centre canteen, has not been seen since March 18, and police are treating her disappearance as suspected murder.

Mr Lawrence, a solicitor from Slingsby, near Malton, said there was no particular reason for visiting Scotland, only that Claudia could be anywhere.

Speaking to The Press from Edinburgh, he said: “There is a great hole in my life and the past seven months have been very much a rollercoaster – not just on a daily basis, but on a minute-by-minute basis. Getting through it is very difficult.

“I certainly never thought it would get to seven months, but I will keep the campaign going until we find Claudia.

“The support I get from absolutely everybody is just amazing – everybody is rooting to find Claudia and I really appreciate that.

“I get regular updates from the police and there are still people giving information even after seven months, but there is nothing there that is significant.”

Giant posters showing a photo of the missing chef and the words “Missing. Claudia Lawrence. Where are you?” have been put up at Edinburgh Waverley Station and Glasgow Central Station.

Detectives investigating Claudia’s disappearance fear she has come to harm after meeting somebody she knew, probably as she walked to work on March 19. She had been due to arrive at 6am, but never turned up.

If you have information to help the inquiry, phone North Yorkshire Police on 0845 6060247, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.