A DISGRACED former solicitor had her request for an appeal dismissed after a tribunal heard she has vanished.

The home Jennifer Hallam claims she lives in does not exist and Law Society officials ended up quizzing local farmers and postmen about her whereabouts.

Hallam was also absent from today's hearing at the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal, despite sending a letter pleading for the chance to appeal against her ban.

The 51-year-old was struck off last November when she went bankrupt months after taking a £20,000 loan from two clients.

Hallam was granted a rehearing in March after claiming she was unaware of disciplinary proceedings because the papers had been sent to the wrong address.

Agents were sent last weekend to deliver the case documents to her address, Field View, Houghclough Lane, Chipping, but discovered there is no such property.

Hallam's previous address in the same road, Crossnapend Barn, was found to be a half complete conversion up for sale, the hearing was told.

The solicitor was barred last year when she failed to pay back the loans.

Hallam was also guilty of a "conflict of interest" by borrowing £10,000 from a woman she represented in court.

Her former practice at Wharton Bramwells in Church Road Chambers, Longton, closed down prior to her expulsion from the profession.