A TENNIS court-sized area of woodland was cleared by cops yesterday in the ongoing search for -Claudia Lawrence.
Officers used power tools to fell small trees and bushes and strimmed grass.
The area is around 200 yards from a pond which has been drained as part of the fresh hunt for the university chef, who went missing 12 years ago.
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Claudia Lawrence disappeared in March 2009 but the investigation was recently reopened Credit: PA
Officers have spent ten days searching Sand Hutton gravel pit, a former quarry popular with anglers, and surrounding woods.
The area is six miles from Claudia’s former home in York.
She was 35 when she vanished, in March 2009, as she walked to work for a 6am shift at York University.
Five people have been quizzed on suspicion of her murder but none was ever charged.
Detectives have refused to reveal what new information triggered the current Claudia hunt and even her 78-year-old mum Joan has been kept in the dark.
She has suffered “awful nightmares” as pictures have emerged of officers on hands and knees carrying out a fingertip search of the thick mud at the bottom of the drained pond.
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She said: “No parent should ever have to endure this.
“I’m left wondering every day what is going on and what might be found.”
As well as looking for Claudia’s body, the search teams are hoping to find her mobile phone — a silver Samsung D900 — and a blue and grey Karrimor rucksack.
She had them with her when she disappeared.
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Officers have carried out a fingertip search of the thick mud in the drained pond
Drone footage shows police search for Claudia Lawrence as cops dredge two fishing lakes in a fresh hunt for her body 12 years after she vanished