Newspaper puts up Shannon reward

Shannon has not been seen since 19 February

A £20,000 reward has been offered by a national newspaper in the search for missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews.

The Sun is putting up the money and has printed posters urging readers to help in the search.

Shannon's mother and stepfather said: "Our message to people is never give up because we won't until we find her."

Her best friend, Megan Aldridge, made a TV appeal for her safe return. Shannon, nine, went missing in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, on 19 February.

Detectives have said she "may have fallen into the wrong hands".

Wrong direction

Megan, also aged nine, was captured on CCTV footage walking home with Shannon on the afternoon she disappeared.

She said she last saw her friend as she headed away in the wrong direction to her home.

Megan told ITV News: "I'm really, really sad and if you know where she is just call and tell us where she is."

Earlier this week, volunteers distributed leaflets and posters as part of the search.

West Yorkshire Police said the incident room had received more than 500 calls.

Police appealed to anyone who was in the Dewsbury Moor area on 19 February to think back to anything unusual they saw that day, or had seen since.

Specialist search dogs that have been trained to sniff out human remains have been used in the investigation and a team of "dedicated scientists" have been on hand for detailed forensic examinations.