Martin Allen, 15, vanished on his way home from school on 5 November, 1979.

He was last seen waving goodbye to school friends as he boarded a tube train at King's Cross station in London.

One Sunday newspaper said police on Merseyside had received a tip-off about a shrine - which included a headstone - at the house of an alleged paedophile.

Detectives from the One Area Major Incident Investigation Pool in Kensington, Central London, refused to comment on the reports but confirmed that they were investigating new information which had been passed on to them.

The hunt goes on

A spokesman said no arrests had been made and inquiries were continuing.

Martin, whose father was a chauffeur for the Australian High Commissioner, has not been seen since Guy Fawkes' Night in 1979 despite a worldwide search.

The newspaper report said Merseyside detectives received an anonymous last month which suggested a 62-year-old Liverpool man had knowledge of the boy's fate.

Officers reportedly visited his house and found a makeshift shrine including newspaper cuttings, pictures and a headstone engraved "In Memory of Martin Allen".

At the time of his disappearance a man was seen holding a boy fitting his description against a wall outside Gloucester Road underground station.