New Esti sighting reported

A child answering Esti's description has twice been seen in Nice

Police hope to be closing in on a four-year-old girl who was abducted by her father after a second reported sighting in Nice, France.

Esti Clayton, from Brecon - whose full name is Estelle - has not been seen since she went to stay with her father Simon on 9 April.

A child matching Esti's description and holding a ferret - similar to the one the Esti kept as a pet - was seen at Nice market on 9 May.

Another sighting has now been reported by a woman from Herefordshire - and Esti's worried mother Aneta is travelling to Nice to join the search.

An officer from Dyfed-Powys Police has gone out with Mrs Clayton to provide support and liaise with French Police.

The second sighting took place on Sunday 11 May, very close to where Esti was first allegedy seen two days previously.

I only saw their backs but what struck me was that the girl, who could only have been about four, was cradling a ferret in her arms

Norma Collins, holidaymaker

Police said it was "the strongest signal yet" that Esti and her father were in the Nice area.

The woman who reported the second sighting had spent some time in Nice, and saw a piece about the search for Esti on television when she returned to the UK.

Aneta Clayton has also been interviewed by French newspaper journalists as efforts to find the child are stepped up.

Simon Clayton, from Hay-on-Wye, left a note saying he was taking Esti on a three-week holiday - police suspect he may have abducted her to avoid a custody hearing.

Ferret

The first sighting came from Bronglais Hospital secretary Norma Collins, who was on a week-long holiday in the south of France.

"I was walking with my husband in the old town section of Nice on Friday morning when a little girl and a man cut across us before crossing the road," she said.

"I only saw their backs but what struck me was that the girl, who could only have been about four, was cradling a ferret in her arms."

Mrs Collins thought nothing more about the incident until she returned home from the continent on Saturday and saw a newspaper report about the missing girl.

The sightings follow an earlier report that book dealer Mr Clayton - whose former wife had been living with Esti in Brecon - had been seen in southern France.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the incident room at Brecon on 01874 622 331.