POLICE investigating the disappearance of Malton woman Claudia Lawrence are examining links to holiday romances after commissioning an external review.

Despite still having 30 officers still searching for the 35-year-old and nearly £500,000 dedicated to the search, five months have now passed since she vanished.

North Yorkshire Police has been told to concentrate more on the missing chef’s personal relationship after commissioning the National Policing Improving Agency (NPIA) to tell them how they could improve their handling of the case.

The agency raised fears that detectives were not coping with the amount of information received in the huge probe and were taking as long as four weeks to investigate potentially crucial leads.

Det Supt Ray Galloway, who is leading what is now a suspected murder inquiry, admitted that Claudia’s complex love life had hindered the search.

The focus remains on the York area where she lived, in particular her local pub where she was known to many of the men, although details have emerged of links to Wales and London. As well as York, there have been links to relationships formed in Greece and Cuba.

Det Supt Galloway added that many of these had ended by her March 18 disappearance, but he was frustrated that her ex-lovers had been so reluctant to come forward.

He said: “We are determined to identify everyone who has been in a relationship with her, and these men need to know that we will keep coming back again and again until we ascertain the truth.”