Abduction fears for missing girl

Lilly has been seen in Manchester

Police searching for a 13-year-old girl missing from her Lancashire home fear she may have been abducted and forced into prostitution.

Liliana Brooks, who is known as Lilly, left her home in Dale Close, Parbold, in her school uniform on 3 July and has not been seen since.

Police believe she is in Manchester and fear that she may be being held against her will and being forced to work as a prostitute.

There has been one confirmed sighting of her in the market of the Arndale Centre in the city, on the day she went missing.

Lancashire Police say they are concerned about reports that she was seen with two Asian men a few days later.

The last contact Lilly had with her parents was when she spoke to her father, at about 1500 BST on the day she disappeared, telling him she was outside their house.

We have to face the unpalatable scenario that she is being traded as an adult and that her 'clients' are unaware of her real age Chief Inspector Peter White Lancashire Police

Chief Inspector Peter White, from Lancashire Police, said: "It is very worrying that there has been absolutely no contact from Lilly since the day after she went missing.

"While it may be that she is staying away from home deliberately, we have to consider the very real possibility that she is being forcibly held and used in the sex industry.

"Lilly's family has already said that although only 13, Lilly easily passes for a girl of 18.

"We have to face the unpalatable scenario that she is being traded as an adult and that her 'clients' are unaware of her real age.

"If this is the case, we would urge anyone who thinks they may have knowledge of her whereabouts to contact the police as soon as possible."

Anyone with any information is urged to call police at Skelmersdale.