Danielle's village 'worried for children'

People in Danielle's village are concerned for their children

Detectives investigating the disappearance of schoolgirl Danielle Jones have met worried residents from her village to discuss their concerns.

Some residents in East Tilbury, Essex, are so worried about their children's safety during the summer holidays that many are reported to be keeping youngsters indoors.

Up to 250 residents gathered at the village hall on Sunday to meet with police, who told them that a mobile incident room would be set up in the village from Monday.

With the summer holidays we want to be reassured.

Joanne Nyland

Residents are being asked to check their gardens and garages for any clues that might help find the 15-year-old, who has now been missing for five weeks.

Danielle disappeared on 18 June after leaving her home to catch a school bus.

There has only been one positive sighting of her since, when two male schoolfriends saw her make a sudden about-turn in the street minutes later.

Residents attending the meeting praised the police investigation into the youngster's disappearance but said they wanted to see more police in Tilbury.

Ahead of the meeting, Essex Police Inspector Alan Cook said it was perfectly natural to keep the community informed every step of the way as they hunted for the "missing piece of the jigsaw".

"This inquiry is a local thing that the people of Tilbury have got a lot of feelings about," he said.

"We're going to keep the local people on board with what's going on because they might provide clues."

Close community

He urged villagers to remember that abductions were very rare and encouraged parents to take normal, sensible precautions in looking after their children.

Joanne Nyland, 32, one of the organisers, said many residents felt they were not getting enough feedback on the progress of the hunt for the missing teenager.

Danielle: Police hope pupils will be able to remember something

"We are a close community and need to know if there is anything residents can do to help," she said.

"They should know about the strength of feeling from the numbers who helped out on the search a few weeks ago.

Ms Nyland said Danielle's parents Linda and Tony have been told about the meeting and supported it.

Pupils at Danielle's school have been shown a BBC Crimewatch reconstruction of the morning she was last seen.

Police hope the video will jog a memory of at least one of the 1,000 pupils at St Clere's School in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex.

The reconstruction, broadcast on Wednesday, prompted more than 200 calls from the public.