A NATIONWIDE search has been launched as the hunt for Ruksana Khatun, who vanished from her Accrington home on June 10.

Police say her parents are becoming more distraught as each day passes with no word about their 15-year-old daughter, a pupil at Hollins High School, Accrington.

Now police are expanding their search across the country and following several leads, including the possibility that she may have headed for London

Detective Inspector Bob Eastwood, who is leading the hunt for Ruksana, said: "Her parents are at their wits ends. They have no idea why she has disappeared and the family has always prided itself on being a close-knit one."

The teenager was last seen when she was caught on CCTV cameras at Accrington railway station on the day she disappeared, laden with bags as she boarded an early morning train to Colne.

Her friends at the Hollins High School, Hollins Lane, are becoming increasingly concerned too.

A spokesman for the school said: "Everybody is very worried about what has happened"

Ruksana is Asian, 4ft 10in, of proportionate build with a very pale complexion. She has dark brown eyes and shoulder-length, curly black hair.

Information to Accrington police on 01254 382141 or any police officer.

Her parents were too distressed to comment.