Police officers have cordoned off a grassed area in Lydalls Road in Didcot as they continue their search for missing 17-year-old Jayden Parkinson.

The area is being searched as Thames Valley Police follows up a lead but the force cannot give any more details.

Supt Christian Bunt said it is one of two significant search areas - the other remains in the village of Upton. 

  • Listen to Supt Christian Bunt's briefing on Sunday, December 15

He thanked members of the public for their understanding while the searches were being carried out but reiterated an earlier plea that they don't organise their own searches. 

He said: “There is a huge amount of information coming in from the public. Please keep that information forthcoming. We understand that the communities in Oxford and particularly in the Didcot and Upton areas have been extremely effected by this.

“There is a lot of police presence and police activity. We have got well over 100 police officers attached to this operation.”

Jayden went missing on Tuesday, December 3, after leaving a hostel in Iffley Road, Oxford, where she was staying. She travelled by train from the city to Didcot, the town where he family lived.

Police yesterday revealed their investigation is focussing on finding a man seen in the village of Upton, near Didcot, who was struggling with a large suitcase in the early hours of Monday, December 9.

Police are saying they do not know if Jayden's body was in that suitcase.