BRITAIN: A driver seen apparently struggling with two children near the home town of the two missing schoolgirls was last night being hunted by police.
The man was said to be "thrashing" his arms around and swerving across the road as he drove from Soham in Cambridgeshire - where Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were last seen before they disappeared last Sunday week.
Police are now scouring CCTV footage and speed camera films from the route for any sign of the metallic dark green four-door saloon car the man was driving.
A dark green car was also spotted in Soham town centre last Sunday week, fuelling fears its driver was an opportunistic abductor on the prowl who now has the 10-year-olds held captive.
Police said they hoped the sighting on the A142 could be the first major breakthrough in their hunt for the youngsters, who disappeared eight days ago.
But they admitted that their new key witness, a taxi driver with at least two passengers, may have contacted them several days ago but that they only took his statement late on Sunday night.
The reason for the delay was not clear but police have reinterviewed him, and contacted his passengers.
Det Chief Insp Andy Hebb said: "I think it's an important, significant line of inquiry. I hope it's a breakthrough." He told a news conference: "The information from the taxi driver may have been in the incident room for a number of days. The sheer size of the inquiry, the number of calls that we have, means there are many priorities. Even with the considerable resources we have, we can only do so many tasks at one time."
The taxi driver had picked up a fare from nearby Ely and saw the dark green car, believed to be a Peugeot 405 or a Vauxhall Vectra, at a roundabout on the outskirts of Soham at about 7 p.m.
There was an unconfirmed sighting of the girls at a Q8 garage by the roundabout at the same time, although CCTV showed two other children there.
The taxi driver said the child in the back seat had light brown hair, like Jessica's. The driver of the green car, a white man aged between 38 and 45 with black, wiry, unkempt hair and Mediterranean, tanned skin, dressed in dark clothing - was said to have been driving at 30 to 55 m.p.h. as he left the town and drove towards Newmarket in Suffolk.
The taxi driver followed him from the roundabout until he turned into Studlands Park Avenue in Newmarket about six or seven minutes later. The road leads to a residential area and an industrial estate before hitting a vast swathe of open countryside.
Holly and Jessica's parents have been told of the potential new evidence and Mr Hebb said detectives were checking if anyone known to the girls' families had cars similar to the dark green saloon.Detectives have discussed with the families the possibility that their children were taken by someone who knew them, because there have been no reports of screams or a struggle, despite many sightings of the girls in the quiet market town.
Mr Hebb said police needed to trace anyone driving a dark green saloon car near Soham or Newmarket on Sunday August 4th "as a matter of urgency", adding that anyone not connected with the disappearances could then be eliminated from the inquiry.
There are 103 green four-door Vectras and 71 green four-door Peugeot 405s registered to drivers in the Cambridgeshire area, while 8,992 green Peugeot 405s were thought to be on the road in Britain, and 2,500 four-door green Vauxhall Vectras.
Police have been desperate for a breakthrough all weekend after staging a reconstruction of the girls' last movements on Saturday.
Extensive roadblocks were set up around Soham yesterday - exactly a week after their disappearance - as police asked motorists to search their memories for any information which could help with the inquiry.
Interviews screened last night on Tonight with Trevor McDonald showed the girls' parents pleading for their safe return.
Jessica's mother Sharon said: "Just give them back. Drop them off somewhere that is safe . . . It's never too late . . . I just want them back."
Mr Hebb has also appealed for information about Jessica's blue Nokia 5110, her hair braid and the matching Manchester United tops, dark trousers and white Nike trainers the girls were wearing.
Suzanne Breen, Senior Northern Correspondent, adds:
Police in Co Tyrone last night ruled out a possible sighting of the girls at Gortin Glen caravan park.
It followed a reported sighting of two fair-haired girls with a man who was driving a metallic green Land Rover towing a cream caravan. A workman said he saw the man with two girls and a German shepherd dog but when he approached, the man drove off quickly.
Woodland around the area was closed off yesterday during the investigation before the connection was ruled out.