THE detective leading the search for missing chef Claudia Lawrence said it was North Yorkshire Police’s biggest operation since the week-long hunt for quadruple murderer Mark Hobson in July 2004.

As the search for 35-year-old Claudia enters its second week, more than 100 police officers and around 70 volunteers have now been drafted in.

Detective Superintendent Ray Galloway told The Press it was one of the largest operations ever launched by North Yorkshire Police.

He said: “Within the context of major crime investigations undertaken by North Yorkshire Police, it is a truly significant investigation.

“It is our biggest investigation since the hunt for (quadruple murderer) Mark Hobson.

“However, I’m certain that we have the skills, resources and equipment, together with partners and volunteers, to undertake the investigation effectively.”

Det Supt Galloway was speaking as he renewed his appeal for any information about Claudia’s disappearance. He said he was particularly keen to find out what Claudia, who works as a chef at the University of York, had been doing when she was seen returning to her home at about 3.10pm last Wednesday.

Just 25 minutes earlier, she had been dropped off at her home in Heworth Road by a colleague, who had spotted Claudia walking back from work and picked her up in her car.

Det Supt Galloway said: “The next sighting we have of her is 3.10pm, when she is seen walking along Melrosegate towards her home.

“She is not obviously coming from the shops and we don't think she’s been to the shops either.

“We would like to know what she was doing in Melrosegate.”

The last person to have spoken to Claudia was her mother, Joan, who phoned her daughter at around 8.10pm last Wednesday, when they had a conversation about the television programme they were both watching – Location Location Location.

At 8.23pm, Claudia sent her last text, making a loose arrangement with a friend to meet up for a drink in the next couple of days.

At 9.12pm, she received a text from a different friend, but police do not know whether she read this message.

Det Supt Galloway said: “We are in the process of investigating all of her telephone contacts, and there are lines of inquiry that have emerged from this.”

He said they had interviewed all Claudia’s known ex-boyfriends, including 24-year-old Daniel Whitehand, from Gateshead, whom she dated for 18 months after they met in 2005.

After police interviewed him on Wednesday, he said: “I helped them as much as I can. That’s all I can do.

“Claudia’s lovely. She’s outgoing and funny – everyone’s best friend. There’s not a bad bone in her body.

“This is out of character. She always told somebody where she was. I hate to think what might have happened. It’s staggering that she could just vanish like this.”

Det Supt Galloway said. “My professional judgement is that she is likely to have come to harm.

“There is no rational reason for the routine and regular habits of Claudia to have stopped completely, as they have since Wednesday evening.”

He said there was no CCTV footage of Claudia walking to work on Thursday morning.

He was considering the possibility she had gone to meet somebody she knew on Wednesday evening, taking a small rucksack containing her work clothes for the following day.

When asked if he thought Claudia was still alive, he said: “I very much hope so.”