Detectives hunting missing kids defend delays

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hebb said: "We accept that people may feel frustrated that they do not receive an immediate police response to the information they’re providing.

"You can be assured that it does not mean it is seen as unimportant. All information received is taken extremely seriously.

"We remain focused on tracing Jessica and Holly and returning them both to their parents and families alive and well.

"All of our resources are working with this same aim."

Last night he told reporters: "The information from the taxi driver may have been in the incident room for a number of days.

"The sheer size of the inquiry, the number of calls that we have, means there are many priorities. Even with the considerable resources we have, we can only do so many tasks at one time."

Meanwhile a taxi driver who may have spotted Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells being abducted by a motorist described today what he saw.

Ian Webster, who first spotted the car on the A142 south of the girls’ home town of Soham, Cambs, said: "It was driving in a very, very erratic manner, the standard of driving could only be described as appalling.

"It was wavering all across the road on both sides of the road hitting the banks on both sides of the road.

"There were two small children obscured from vision, one in the front seat, one in the back seat behind the passenger seat."

Mr Webster denied he was responsible for any delay in following up what could be vital information in the search for Jessica and Holly, who disappeared nine days ago.

He reportedly contacted another force last Tuesday, two days after the incident on Sunday evening, as soon as he realised the importance of what he had seen.

He came forward before some newspapers began offering rewards.

The Cambridgeshire police team investigating the disappearance of the two ten-year-olds were notified the next day, Wednesday, August 7.

Mr Webster, who works for Diamond Taxis in Cambridge, told GMTV: "I endeavoured to make this statement and get the facts over six days earlier from when this media news has broken.

"The inference is I am at fault for not coming forward when this is not the case."

Detectives were today continuing to hunt for the driver of the dark green four-door saloon car, possibly a Vauxhall Vectra or Peugeot 405.

A car similar to the one driven by the man police want to trace was seen in Soham shortly before the suspected abduction, fuelling fears the driver was an opportunistic abductor on the prowl who now has the schoolgirls captive.

Police were today scouring CCTV footage and speed camera films from along the route for any sign of the car.

Mr Webster had picked up a fare from nearby Ely and saw the dark green car at a roundabout on the outskirts of Soham at about 7pm on August 4.

There was an unconfirmed sighting of the girls at a Q8 garage by the roundabout at the same time, although CCTV showed two other children there, not Holly and Jessica.

Mr Webster told police the child in the back seat had light brown hair, like Jessica’s.

The driver - a white man aged between 38 and 45 with black, wiry, unkempt hair and Mediterranean, tanned skin, dressed in dark clothing - was said to have been driving at speeds of 30 to 55mph as he left the town and drove towards Newmarket, just over the Suffolk border.

Mr Webster followed him from the roundabout until the green car turned into Studlands Park Avenue in Newmarket about six or seven minutes later.

The road leads to a residential area and an industrial estate before hitting a vast swathe of open countryside.

Holly and Jessica’s parents have been told of the potential new evidence and Mr Hebb said detectives were checking if anyone known to the girls’ families had cars similar to the dark green saloon.

Police have discussed with the families the possibility that their children were taken by someone who knew them, because there have been no reports of screams or a struggle despite many sightings of the girls in the quiet market town.

Mr Hebb said police needed to trace anyone driving a dark green saloon car near Soham or Newmarket on Sunday August 4 "as a matter of urgency", adding that anyone not connected with the disappearances could then be eliminated from the inquiry.

There are 103 green four-door Vectras and 71 green four-door Peugeot 405s registered to drivers in the Cambridgeshire area, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

The society said 8,992 green Peugeot 405s were thought to be on the road in Britain, and 2,500 four-door green Vauxhall Vectras.

Police have been desperate for a breakthrough all weekend after staging a reconstruction of the girls’ last movements on Saturday.

Extensive roadblocks were set up around Soham on Sunday - exactly a week after their disappearance - as police asked motorists to search their memories for any information which could help with the inquiry.

Interviews screened yesterday on Tonight with Trevor McDonald showed the girls’ parents pleading for their safe return.

Jessica’s mother, Sharon, said: "Just give them back. Drop them off somewhere that is safe... It’s never too late... I just want them back."

The ITV programme later said it had triggered a huge response.

Mr Hebb has also appealed for information about Jessica’s blue Nokia 5110, her hair braid and the matching Manchester United tops, dark trousers and white Nike trainers the girls were wearing.

Anyone finding any of the items should alert police but not touch them as they will need DNA testing.

Police said they did not yet know if it would be possible to construct an e-fit of the driver of the dark green car, but said he did not appear to have been carrying a weapon when he was spotted.