Residents to staff Danielle incident room

The caravan will be staffed by officers and residents

A mobile incident room is being set up in the home village of missing schoolgirl Danielle Jones to encourage local people to come forward with information.

Police said the caravan would be staffed by police officers and residents from East Tilbury.

More than 300 people attended a public meeting on Sunday to discuss the concerns of parents worried about their children's safety during the summer holidays.

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.

We still need something that will lead to that big break that will lead us to Danielle

Inspector Alan Cook

Jackie Stephens, one of the villagers who co-ordinated the meeting, called on local people to pull together and help the police with the hunt for Danielle.

"I know that living in East Tilbury for 27 years we have got quite a reputation for being nosey - let's use that reputation because someone here holds the key to the investigation."

Her appeal was echoed by officers from the investigation team.

Essex Police Inspector Alan Cook, said: "We still need more information, we still need something that will lead to that big break that will lead us to Danielle.

Danielle: Police hope pupils will be able to remember something

"You know this area and this community better than anyone else, certainly better than any of us, therefore you are going to be the ones to tell us if there is something out of place or strange."

Danielle's parents Tony and Linda did not attend the meeting, but organisers said they had given it their support

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

Police presence

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.

Schoolfriends have been shown reconstruction film

Superintendent Ian Gruneberg, Thurrock divisional commander, told residents known sex offenders in the area were being checked.

Mr Gruneberg called on parents to be aware of where their children were and to tell them not to speak to strangers.

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 prompted more than 200 calls from the public.

Police are also planning a major poster campaign as part of their hunt for Danielle.