POLICE are continuing to search for a North-East mother and her five young daughters who went missing more than a week ago.

Northumbria Police believe Natalie Bracht and her children, aged five to 13, may be in London.

Ms Bracht, 34, and the children left their home in Sunderland on Saturday, May 17. They were seen in the Haymarket area of Newcastle at 1pm.

Police have not ruled out the possibility that relatives or an organisation in the capital may be sheltering the family.

Today, they released CCTV images of Ms Bracht and the children taken in Newcastle and London on May 17.

The first shows Ms Bracht in Newcastle at 2.38pm, wearing a distinctive red Berghaus-style three-quarter length jacket, with dark hood and shoulders, and blue jeans or trousers. She is carrying a rucksack.

She is described as 5ft 6ins tall, of medium build, with shoulder length dark hair, sometimes tied back.

The second shows Ms Bracht at King's Cross railway station, in London, at 6.20pm. She is wearing a flowing white robe and head scarf.

The children's faces have been obscured for legal reasons.

Ms Bracht moved to the North-East in 2006 from Dusseldorf, in Germany. She speaks English with a heavy German accent.

DCI Roger Ford said: "These CCTV images of Natalie show that somewhere between Newcastle and London she deliberately and radically changed her appearance.

"It shows a high degree of planning and a great deal of effort to evade being identified, which further raises my concerns about her emotional well-being and the safety of her children.

"They have been away from their home, their friends and their school for more than a week, and that is clearly not in their best interests."

Ms Bracht is thought to have little money and no family connections in the London area.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police and British Transport Police are working with Northumbria Police on the investigation.

Anyone with information about Ms Bracht or her children should call Northumbria Police on 03456-043-043.