The Internet will be at the heart of a pioneering new scheme to hunt for missing children with the launch of missingkids.co.uk later this month.

Organised by Scotland Yard's Missing Persons Bureau and Hertfordshire police, the pilot scheme will initially provide online photographs and information about a handful of missing youngsters. Approval from the families will be obtained before any details go online.

It is the first scheme of its kind in the UK. In the US, there are several websites dedicated to the search for lost children including Children Missing Organisation and Missing Youth Foundation.

If the scheme is a success, Scotland Yard plans to extend the website nationally, with an UK-wide network involving all UK constabularies. Of the 80,000 children reported missing in London last year, around 80 remain missing.

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