THE mother of Claudia Lawrence has spoken for the first time about how stress surrounding her daughter’s disappearance has affected her.

Claudia, from York, went missing in March 2009, and despite extensive police investigations and reviews, her family still do not have a definitive answer as to what happened.

Now 75, Joan Lawrence, who lives in Malton, said she refuses to let her hope of one day seeing her daughter again die. She has spoken publicly for the first time about how the stress has led to her losing her hair through alopecia, as she appeared in public wearing a new wig.

She said: “I can’t ever give up hope that I’ll see Claudia again one day – and I have to look my best for her, don’t I?”

The 10th anniversary of Claudia going missing from her home in York falls on March 18 next year and Joan said it represented another opportunity to keep the case in the public eye. She is working on a book, and plans another appearance on TV’s Loose Women in the run-up to the anniversary.

Joan said: “There have been lots of really dark days and I don’t know how I’ve kept my sanity at times. But I have to keep going for Claudia’s sake – it won’t do her any good if I just lock myself away and be miserable, will it?”

She puts the loss of her hair down to the anxiety, but she wants to talk about it in the hope that it helps lift the stigma around hair-loss.

Joan said: “My hair just kept getting thinner and I can’t pretend it didn’t get me down.”

Thanks to her doctor referring her to Betty Brown Wigs in York, Joan said she had been given renewed confidence.

She said: “I went along and tried on lots of different wigs and took advice on what suited me best. The response from people has been phenomenal. People might give me a double-take in the supermarket or in the street but then they come up and say it’s taken 20 years off me.

“No matter how bad I’ve felt, I’ve always been determined to stay proud and not let myself go. Hopefully, that’s what I’ve done. Having the wig and hearing the response from people has given me a real lift. I look in the mirror and feel more determined than ever.”

Joan said the day of her wig-fitting coincided with one of the windiest days of the year.

She said: “There was a right gale blowing and I was terrified it would fly off, but I’m getting used to it now. You have to laugh, don’t you?”