A FORMER boss of Claudia Lawrence has described her as a “fantastic worker” you could always depend on.

June Nelsey, manager of the Monkbar Hotel, where Claudia worked for seven years, said she was praying the chef would be found safe and well.

She said Claudia’s former colleagues – who have all been interviewed by the police – had been helping in the search by putting up posters around the city centre.

“We just feel so inadequate and useless because there’s nothing we can do except pray. I’m praying for the best. I think the moment you allow negative thoughts to invade your brain, you do fear the worst, but we are all trying to stay positive.

“Somebody somewhere knows what’s happened to her.” She said Claudia, who left the Monkbar Hotel in July 2006, was hugely popular amongst her colleagues.

“We are still in stunned shock, as the rest of York is. She’s a lady that was liked by everybody – she never fell out with anybody.

“In the hotel business, people tend to move on and make new friends, but all the staff that worked with her are still in touch with her.

“She was never late for work. If Claudia was on duty, you never had to worry. She just came in and did her job. “You could always depend on her.”