TWO mums terrified by the disappearance of their ten-year-old daughters were left furious at the police reaction to their plight.

But York officers have defended their response to the alarm raised by the families.

Marianna Finch, 33, of Cumbrian Avenue, Strensall, said she "panicked immediately" when she realised her daughter Stefania and her best friend, Amy Singleton, were missing.

The pair had decided to run away to Hull to escape bullying from a boy on their estate.

Marianna gathered 20 friends and neighbours and launched a search for the pair, but when she phoned York police station she was told officers were "too busy" to help immediately.

Thankfully, the girls were found by a family friend who saw them by chance and picked them up at a Monks Cross supermarket.

Mrs Finch said: "I couldn't help but think of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells straight away, it all goes rushing through your mind, you always fear the worst.

"We set out searching for them immediately, we had friends searching the estate in cars, people walking the common with torches, everything we could think of."

She alerted York Police who, she said, told them they were very busy.

"They said they would circulate a description of the girls, but that was basically it," said Mrs Finch. "I rang them asking when they were going to do something, but was told they were very busy, they would be around when they could.

"This was how they dealt with the lives of two ten-year-old girls."

Lynnsey Ingleton, 28 of Humber Drive, Strensall, said she had not eaten or slept properly since the disappearance.

She said: "It made it much worse because it was dark and getting foggy and the girls, who are not the sort to stay out, are usually at home by 6.30pm."

Sergeant Major Bryan Hunter, who is working with the Territorial Army East and West Riding Regiment at Worsley Barracks, Fulford Road, found the girls by chance 45 minutes after police were alerted and almost two hours after they vanished. He said: "It was just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Another ten seconds and they would have turned left or right, and I would have missed them."

A senior York Police officer today defended the response.

Inspector Glyn Payne said all missing youngsters were treated as a priority, and the missing duo were found before officers could arrive.

Inspector Glyn Payne, of York Police, said: "Missing from homes, especially young people, are always a priority and we would deal with them as soon as possible, but before an officer had got there we had the call to say they were safe.

"You only have to look at the Soham youngsters, they were two ten-year-olds, to understand why we do take it seriously. And as a parent myself I understand why people would be anxious."

Two teenage runaways who turned up sleeping rough in North Yorkshire have declared their love for each other.

Paul Baxter, 16, and 14-year-old girlfriend Christine Rylance, sparked a five-day search after vanishing from their Tyneside homes.

They were found spotted by a patrolling policewoman on the outskirts of Selby on Wednesday.

Paul said: "We went away because we wanted others to know how much we love each other and because we wanted to be together."

The couple planned to keep seeing each other, said Paul.

Updated: 11:01 Friday, October 03, 2003