POLICE searching for missing Burnley boy Daniel Entwistle today said hopes of finding him alive are fading.

"We must be realistic the longer this goes on," said Det Supt Julian Gregory.

"We are beginning to reach a stage where we think we may not find Daniel safe and well -- but there is still a chance."

Officers were handing out leaflets to drivers and passers-by after the seven-year-old vanished a week ago shortly after leaving home in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

A bicycle thought to belong to Daniel, who was born in Burnley and lived with mum and dad David, 41, and Paula, 30, in Peel Street, Padiham, before moving away with his family three years ago, was found next to the raised bank of the tidal river Yare, less than a mile from his home.Police were speaking to passers-by in the area where the bicycle was found in the hope of finding new clues.

Police fear Daniel fell about into the river while playing but stressed that they have not ruled out the possibility that he was abducted.