POLICE have started river searches in a bid to find missing mum Eleanor Birrell.
Mrs Birrell, 67 - who has Alzheimer's disease - vanished from her home on Huddersfield Road, Shelley, last Friday evening.
She was spotted a short time later, at 9.20pm, on Wakefield Road in Aspley and police searches are concentrated on that area.
Yesterday the West Yorkshire Police Underwater Search Unit began to scour a stretch of the River Colne from the bottom of Newsome and through Aspley to the Galpharm Stadium.
A team of five officers did what is known as a wade search.
They waded through water up to waist depth and also searched dense undergrowth on both riverbanks.
Pc Dave Lodge said: "The river is quite low, so we can see to the bottom in most places.
"There is a lot of undergrowth on either bank and it needed to be searched thoroughly."
Extra officers from the operational support unit and volunteers from the Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team have continued searching Aspley and Moldgreen, but have found no trace of Mrs Birrell.
Police have appealed for people throughout Huddersfield to search their sheds and outhouses, or anywhere near their homes where Mrs Birrell may have taken refuge if she had become lost and confused.
When last seen Mrs Birrell, who has a Scottish accent, was wearing a light green knee- length dress which had a pattern around the neck line, a white cardigan and beige sandal-style shoes.
* Anyone who has seen her or has any information should contact police on 01484 436659.
