Police: 'Still hope of finding Shannon alive'

Detectives investigating the disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews say they have not given up hope of finding her alive.

Police have been searching bins for clues in a bid to find the schoolgirl who failed to return home after school on Tuesday.

Shannon, from Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, had been on a swimming trip with classmates before her disappearance.

Chief Superintendent Barry South said he still hoped to find the youngster alive.

He said: "I think the size of the search, the extent of what we're doing, the resources going in - we're not going to lose hope.

"My priority has been the same right from the very outset - we are doing our best to locate Shannon safe and well."

Fifty police officers have been drafted in to check wheelie bins on the route Shannon would have taken home from West Moor Junior School.

The bins had been left uncollected since her disappearance so that officers could check the contents.

Mr South said: "We're emptying the bins, checking the refuse to make sure there's nothing there that could link us to Shannon's whereabouts.

"Over the past week, we've recovered more than 500 items of property. I can say at this moment in time, we believe we've not found anything that links directly to Shannon."

More than 200 homes have been searched and over 300 calls received from the public.

Police have been focusing on areas close to Shannon's family home and have been conducting house-to-house inquiries in the vicinity.

Mr South said interviews were standard as part of such a major inquiry.

He said: "In an inquiry of this nature, we're going to speak with close family, close friends, anybody that might be connected with Shannon.

"I've said from the outset, I believe that somebody out there has a vital piece of information.

"We're constantly reminding people that it might just be that small bit that they think is not important that we need."

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