Desperate search for Vicky

Police were today searching parks and wasteland in their increasingly desperate hunt for missing London student Vicky Stephenson.

As her family and friends gathered to await news in Manchester where she went missing, fears for the 19-year-old's safety were deepening by the hour.

Miss Stephenson, of West Norwood, was last seen at 12.30pm on Tuesday near her university campus when she boarded a bus bound for Manchester city centre to talk to homeless people as part of her degree course.

She had sent a text message to a friend arranging to meet up in the city at 4pm after the interviews. But Miss Stephenson, who is taking community studies and sociology at Manchester's Metropolitan University, never arrived and police admit they are now "seriously concerned".

Detectives today stepped up the hunt between the campus in Didsbury and Manchester city centre. They were also examining footage from closedcircuit television cameras, and continuing to question homeless people in the city centre.

Detective Superintendent Peter Minshall, leading the inquiry, said: "We are extremely concerned about Vicky's welfare. She has now been missing for three days. We do not believe she has simply run away, as this type of behaviour is completely out of character.

"She has made a number of close friends since joining the university and stays in regular contact with them via a mobile phone. Vicky's friends and family are extremely worried about her and are desperate to hear that she is safe and well.

"We are remaining positive about our search and I hope that either Vicky, or someone who knows where she is, will see this appeal and get in contact with us at the incident room."

Detectives have attempted to call Miss Stephenson on her mobile phone but believe it has been switched off. Yesterday they toured hostels for the homeless and talked to people on the streets of Manchester in the hope of a breakthrough.

Miss Stephenson, a first-year student who lives in halls of residence in the Longsight area of the city, should have been returning to London today to spend the Christmas break with her parents, her sister Sarah, 21, who is a student in Glasgow, and brother, Peter, 15.

Her father Michael, a practice manager at a firm of solicitors, has travelled from London to Manchester along with a number of her friends, where they are being supported by police family liaison officers.

Today Miss Stephenson's mother, Margaret, said: "If Vicky is reading this, she knows we love her and just want her to come home. I last spoke to her on Sunday. We had a lovely long conversation and she was on great form. She told me she was looking forward to Christmas and my home cooking."

Clutching rosary beads, Mrs Stephenson added: "I'm trying not to think the worst, but you hear such awful things.

"I can't believe this is happening. I'm just hoping she's going to walk through the door. She said she was enjoying university and had lots of friends. She has schoolfriends at other universities in the North, but there is no sign of her. I am just so worried, because she is a very chatty and friendly girl."

Vicky is described as 5ft tall, of medium build, with short brown hair. When she left the campus she was wearing a knee-length maroon leather jacket and jeans. She has a pierced nose and speaks with a southern accent.

Anyone with information should contact the incident room at Longsight on 0161 856 4345.

Neighbours in London today called at the family's two-storey house to pass on their support, but the house was empty. One, Jane Nash, 41, described the Stephensons as a "religious, close-knit family", and said they were "good people".

Another woman neighbour who did not wish to give her name, said: "Victoria is lovely. I am very sad for the family."

Miss Stephenson, a former pupil at Esher College in Surrey, has A-levels in maths, physics and English, and is one term into her three-year university course - part of which was a project on a person over 50 who has had a full life. It is thought she chose a homeless person as her subject.

Sheila Aynsley-Smith, head of student services at the Metropolitan University, said Miss Stephenson had been advised to take a friend along on her interview, adding: "We would not want students to be in a risky situation alone."