Blackpool's top detective has vowed to continue the hunt for missing teenager - Charlene Downes - two years after she vanished from the streets of the resort.

Speaking on the second anniversary of the schoolgirl's November 1 disappearance this week, Detective Superintendent Paul Buschini confirmed his team are still treating her case as a "major incident" and have no plans to stop searching for the now 16-year-old youngster.

Det Supt Buschini said: "We are still as dedicated to finding Charlene as we were on the day she disappeared in 2003.

"It doesn't matter how many cases we're working on, she has an incident room all of her own and there are officers working on her case that have been with her investigation from day one.

"We need to know what happened to this girl and we will constantly review her case and continue to gather intelligence, however small or seemingly insignificant, until we uncover the truth about what has happened to her." Charlene - a pupil at St George's High School, Marton - first attracted attention after disappearing from her Buchanan Street family home, aged 14, on the afternoon of Saturday, November 1, 2003.

Her last confirmed sighting was at Blackpool's North Pier later that evening. In the last two years officers have carried out an exhaustive search for the missing teen, including door-to-door searches and an 'Illuminations' leaflet campaign.

There have been several alleged sighting of her in towns and cities across the UK.

And information uncovered during the course of the investigation has also helped to establish the successful Operation Awaken, tackling the exploitation of children and young people.

But - despite this wealth of information - detectives have yet to receive any confirmed sightings of Charlene after the night of her disappearance or any clues which lead to her whereabouts once and for all.

Det Supt Buschini now hopes coverage of the second anniversary of Charlene's vanishing will yield fresh information.

He added: "We've now hit the second anniversary of Charlene's disppearence and my concern is increasing more and more with each year that passes.

"Over the course of the investigation we've followed up literally thousands of leads, in far too many places for me to list off the top of my head, and there have been 300 sightings of her alone.

"Sadly, all of these, remain unconfirmed at this time. There have also been no new leads from her missing persons poster campaign in recent months.

"But - despite all this - we're confident that someone, somewhere holds the information we need to uncover Charlene's whereabouts.

"That's why we're renewing our many appeals for information at this time."

Anyone with information about Charlene Downes is asked to contact Blackpool police directly on 01253 293933. Alternatively contact the National Missing Persons Helpline on 0500 700700.