Missing 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were spotted "larking about" on a main road the morning after they left their homes, police believe.

The detective leading the search said the girls were walking along the A10 towards Cambridge at 0645 BST on Monday and were still distinctively dressed in Manchester United tops.

Detective Superintendent David Hankins said he was "confident" that it was the girls and that the sighting gives hope that they could soon be back with their families.

Holly's father Kevin, 38, told a news conference that the families, from Soham in Cambridgeshire, had had the worst night yet, "with friends and families searching in ditches and rivers and looking for shallow graves for our children".

Mobile phone

Police are also examining Holly and Jessica's computers, to see if they have been in touch with strangers over the internet.

The girls had been playing at Holly Wells' house

A spokesman said: "The girls did use e-mail and it would be wrong of us not to investigate every possible line of inquiry."

They have also been checking the whereabouts of known sex offenders.

Jessica had a mobile phone with her and although it is now dead engineers have traced its last call to an area surrounding their home town of Soham in Cambridgeshire.

The girls have been missing since Sunday night and Holly's grandmother, Diane Westley, 60, said she feared they may have been abducted.

Speaking outside the girls' school she said: "All I can possibly think is somebody must have got them and taken them somewhere."

'Worst case scenario'

As scores of local people joined police search teams again on Tuesday, Mrs Westley said the families of Jessica and her "wonderful" granddaughter were struggling to cope.

Diane Westley fears the girls were abducted

Mrs Westley said she could not understand how the girls could have been snatched, but added: "They are not the type of children who would wander off willy-nilly."

She added: "We don't know where to turn really. We are in limbo."

In a message to the girls she said: "All I can say is please please please get in touch if you possibly can. We love you so much. We are all missing you and we need you home."

'Warnings'

Geoff Fisher, the girls' head teacher, said it was good that they were together and could support one another.

He said: "Holly and Jessica have been with us since they were three and at different stages through their school life they will have been given warnings about not accepting approaches from strangers."

The children were wearing Manchester United football shirts when they disappeared while playing at Holly's house.

Click here to see the girls' movements

It is thought they were on their way to buy sweets when they went missing.

Jessica Chapman and her dog Toby

Both sets of parents said they could not think of a reason why they would have run away.

The girls were last seen in Sand Street, Soham, at 1830BST on Sunday.

Both girls are described as being white, about 4ft 6in tall and slim. Jessica is tanned and has shoulder-length brown hair while Holly is fair and has blonde hair.

Police have issued a dedicated telephone hotline for the public to call if anyone has any information about the two girls - 01480 422982.

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