THE father of missing Lindsay Birbeck has spoken out about his popular daughter and the public support shown since she disappeared.

More than 100 people were at a public meeting at Accrington Town Hall on Wednesday night.

The 47-year-old teaching assistant was last seen on Monday, August 12, walking down Burnley Road in Huncoat.

The CCTV footage showed Lindsay at around 4.10pm walking in the direction of Accrington.

Detectives were asked questions by friends and local residents who have been joining in the search for the missing mum-of-two.

Speaking after the meeting, Lindsay's dad Russell Martin said he was pleased to see the support that had been rallied to find his daughter.

The 72-year-old said: "It’s pretty awful. My stomach is churning up inside.

“It is upsetting when you see your daughter has headline news every day.

“You want to watch it but you don’t want to watch it.

“I take each day as it comes.”

Detectives said a two-kilometre area from Lindsay’s house and The Coppice, down towards the A56 and into the countryside had been searched.

Police believe Lindsay went into The Coppice, but they cannot prove whether she left the area, the meeting heard.

Officers said they were keen to find any possessions of Ms Birbeck, adding that her phone is missing.

Det Chief Insp Allen Davies told the meeting they were still looking to trace a dog walker in the area at the time as it is believed they may be the last person to see Lindsay.

There are no suspicious circumstance surrounding the dog walker, the meeting was told.

Detectives could not give people a specific area to search, and aired caution to searching private land and to be wary of trespassing.

Mr Martin thanked people for turning up and added that his wife, Lindsay's mother, had died following a battle with ovarian cancer 14 years ago.

Mr Martin said his daughter has two children, Stephen, 19, and Sarah, 16, who was due to get her GCSE results on Thursday.

He said: “I have walked The Coppice 100 times. I was up there at the weekend, there were lots of people about.

“She’s a popular girl. It’s been encouraging to see lots of people want to help.

“I want people to be careful when out looking.”