THE Missing People Choir which features the father of York chef Claudia Lawrence, finished eighth in the Britain's Got Talent final.

The choir, made up of relatives and friends of people who have gone missing, and backed by Kate McCann, were the long-running favourites in the competition, but finished just inside the top 10.

The group includes Peter Lawrence the father of Darlington-York chef Claudia Lawrence, who has been missing for eight years.

The line-up also features the sister of missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards, Peter Boxell and Denise Horvath-Allan, whose children have both been missing for 28 years.

Earlier, judge Simon Cowell had said he was "rooting" for the choir but added there was a "lot of expectation" on them.

During their moving semi-final performance, photos of dozens of missing people were shown above the stage while the audience held white lights in the air.

The group were formed by the Missing People charity and their first audition, which brought the judges to tears, was a performance of I Miss You, a song penned by Boxell which also includes lyrics written by schoolgirl Alice Gross, who was murdered in 2014 aged 14.

Classical pianist Tokio Myers was crowned the winner during Saturday night's live final.