Police statement on missing girl

* April Jones.

North Wales Police have issued a statement on behalf of officers in the Dyfed-Powys force about five-year-old April Jones who has been missing from her home in Machynlleth on Monday evening.

Released by Detective Superintendent Reg Bevan, it says: "It is still early days in the investigation and we are still speaking to witnesses to gather as much info as possible. These witnesses are children and speaking with them is a delicate and time consuming process.

“I would like to return to the description of the vehicle, and I am mindful that we are still in the process of speaking to these children, so I am anxious that we only provided as accurate information as possible.

“What the witnesses have told is that the vehicle looks like a van, they describe it as small at the front and large at the back, so it could be interrupted that this could be something similar to a Ford Connect type van or a Landrover.

“Furthermore April has been described as getting into the driver’s side of the vehicle. This may be because she got in with the driver or that it is left hand drive vehicle.

“We still believe that the van is grey or light coloured, but again these things can be affected by failing light and street lamps.

“We are following expert advice and research which says that in situations like this you concentrate your searches in the immediate area and then widen it out. This is what we are doing.

“If you were in the area of Bryn y Gôg yesterday evening at around 7pm or you recognise the additional information about the van we have provided please call the incident room on 0300 2000 333. And please get in touch if you have any footage which may assist in our inquiries. If any pieces of information trigger something please get in touch. ”