SEVEN people a day were reported missing on average in North Yorkshire last year.

Figures, obtained exclusively by The Press, reveal that between April 2011 and March 2012, concerned relatives and friends reported 2,669 people missing over the 12-month period.

Nationally, more than 250,000 people go missing in the UK every year. North Yorkshire Police say the vast majority of people classed as missing from home are normally located safe and well within 24 hours.

Responding to The Press’s Freedom of Information request, a force spokeswoman said: “They have often gone away of their own accord for their own reasons, in some cases, not realising the worry it causes their family and friends.

“Many are young people who stay out all night and are reported missing by concerned parents.

“Others are adults who may suffer from dementia and become disorientated while away from home or they are people who leave their families due to fall-outs or emotional pressures. “Some are hospital patients who absent themselves.”

The force currently has 14 “long-term” missing people reported between 1975 and 2009.

A number of these individuals are believed to have been lost at sea, others have left their friends and families and not returned.

A force spokeswoman said only a small number were related to crimes, most notably in the case of York University chef Claudia Lawrence, who went missing in March 2009.

Other long-term missing people included the case of Jenny Nichol, whose disappearance sparked a murder investigation in 2005.

A man is currently serving life imprisonment for her murder. Her body has never been found.

Missing woman Lisette Dugmore was last seen in York city centre in July 2008.

Police now believe she may have entered the River Ouse on the night of her disappearance.

Originally they believed that Miss Dugmore, who would have turned 38 this year, may have run away from home.

However, despite pleas for information and river searches, her body has never been found.

Anyone who has any information about these people’s whereabouts should phone the police on 101.