Dramatic lead in hunt for girls

Detectives hunting for schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman today issued a dramatic appeal to trace a green car spotted swerving wildly with two children inside.

A taxi driver has told police he saw the car near where the girls disappeared in Soham, Cambridgeshire, at around the time they were last seen. The development is the first possible sighting of the 10-year-old girls after they vanished eight days ago and, if

true, confirms fears that they were snatched from the street.

The taxi driver told how he was following a dark metallic green four-door saloon car when it began to swerve from side to side. The driver of the car began thrashing his arms around as if he were involved in a struggle and the taxi driver noticed there were two children in the car, one in the front seat and one in the back.

The car, described as possibly a Peugeot 405 or Vauxhall Vectra, drove at 30 to 50mph for around seven miles. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hebb said: "He was clearly driving erratically, the car was swerving from side to side, across the white lines and on to the verges. The driver was turning around and looking over his shoulder as he drove along.

"This is an important and significant line of inquiry. I hope this is a breakthrough."

It emerged the taxi driver had come forward several days earlier but police said that because of the massive volume of calls and information flooding into the incident room it had only been picked up yesterday.

Police said there had been two or three sightings of a green car in Soham around the time the girls disappeared. The taxi driver could not say what sex the two children were, only that the one in the back of the car had light brown hair.

The driver was described as about 38 to 45 with a tanned complexion. He was clean shaven with wiry, black unkempt hair no longer than his collar.

Mr Hebb said: "We urgently need to trace this vehicle and its driver to establish whether it is relevant to this investigation. We would urge the driver to contact us urgently to eliminate him from this inquiry."

The taxi driver said he first noticed the car on the A142 near the Q8 garage on the Downfield roundabout just outside Soham. It continued along the A142 until it turned into Studlands Park Avenue on the northern edge of Newmarket, which leads to residential streets known as the Studlands Park Estate.

Detectives say they also have reports of a green car in the centre of Soham at the time the girls went missing. There are several reports of the children in the centre of the town early in the evening of Sunday 4 August. Last night checkpoints were mounted in the town exactly a week after the girls vanished, at which more than 700 drivers were questioned.

Detectives have been left baffled after one of the biggest manhunts in history had left them with no real clues despite more than 7,500 calls from the public, emotional TV appeals from both families, and more than 400 house searches. A total of 16 police forces are now helping the inquiry as well as the Ministry of Defence police, British Transport Police and the Royal Air Force.

Detectives from Scotland Yard's Serious Crime Group have travelled to Soham to liaise with officers in connection with three missing students from London.

Elizabeth Chau, 19, vanished as she was walking along the street to her family home in Ealing in April, 1999. Nine months later Lola Shenkoya, 27, a US citizen of Nigerian origin, disappeared from the same area. In July, 2000, Polish student Iwana Kaminska, 20, also vanished from the same area.

Detectives say there is no link between the two inquiries but the Yard officers were able to give advice on their own investigations.

Police appealed for anyone who had seen clothing and jewellery worn by the girls the night they disappeared to "urgently, contact us - and do not touch them". Both girls were wearing red Manchester United football tops with the word Beckham on the back.

Holly wore black polyester trousers with a black plaited belt from Tammy Girl, a silver pendant with the letters love, a black cord necklace and diamond stud earrings. Jessica wore blue tracksuit bottoms with a white Umbro logo, a black cord Nike pendant and a beaded necklace. She also had braids in her hair. She also had a Nokia 5110 mobile phone. It had a blue cover with the red Vodafone logo at the bottom.

Mr Hebb admitted today it was " disappointing" they had not found the girls - but insisted they still believed they were alive. Police have now called in the Army and are extending the hunt into neighbouring counties.

They have refused to rule out the possibility the girls may have been taken abroad. The previous last sighting was at 7.20pm last Sunday outside Sergio's Italian restaurant, when they were seen a few yards from the One Stop convenience store.

However, staff at the store, who knew both children well, said they did not go into the shop. Detectives believe they may have been abducted near the town centre by someone they knew or trusted, because there were no screams or reports of a struggle.

Police have ruled out one theory that the girls went to an internet chatroom or exchanged emails with someone in the 24 minutes they spent on the computer before they went missing. Mr Hebb said there was still a possibility the girls were "groomed" by an abductor on the internet, but an opportunistic abduction seemed more likely.

Two men arrested in Cambridgeshire at the weekend after failing to cooperate were both released without charge today. The hunt for possible suspects went nationwide with news that detectives plan to interview every known sex offender in the country if necessary.

Additional reporting by Colin Adamson.