DETECTIVES investigating the suspected murder of York chef Claudia Lawrence have dismissed rumours that more women have gone missing in the area.

Police stressed that they were not looking into the disappearance of any other women after being alerted to such claims - which they described as “spurious” - currently being circulated in text messages and Facebook entries.

“This is not the case,” insisted a spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police.

“The circumstances of Claudia’s disappearance are extremely unusual and as previously stated by detectives investigating her disappearance, we believe that Claudia has gone with someone she knows.

“York and North Yorkshire are among the safest areas of the country and cases of this nature are very rare.”

Anyone who is concerned by the content of any text messages you receive, is being urged to contact police.