TWO police forces are working together to find a missing North-East father.

The closer co-operation between the Cleveland and Durham forces was revealed yesterday when it emerged that nine-year-old Lauren Cole's appeal to missing father Gary to get in touch for Christmas had failed.

The 30-year-old double- glazing businessman was last seen filling up his white Ford Escort van at the Jet Filling Station, in Yarm Road, Stockton, in mid-November.

Police disclosed that they are stepping up the hunt for Mr Cole after Lauren's plea failed to end his family's six-weeks of misery.

Mr Cole has made no contact with friends or relatives since vanishing.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said their interest was simply to ensure that he was safe and well.

He said: "We are not looking to compromise his situation by revealing where he is. All we want is for him to contact any police officer or walk into any police station and let them know he is OK."

Mr Cole, who is one of three partners in the Stockton-based Ascot and York Conservatories firm, had been staying at the homes of friends in the Stockton area in the months before he went missing.

Checks have been carried out on the South Coast, where he is known to have friends in the double-glazing business, but they, too, have drawn a blank.

The police spokesman said officers needed to hear from Mr Cole or anyone who may have seen him, or his white van, registration number K556 TEA, in recent weeks.

Mr Cole is 6ft, stocky, with a pronounced broken nose, short, dark hair and grey eyes.

He had promised Lauren they would spend Boxing Day together at Eastbourne with his girlfriend and his other daughter, Poppy.

Jill Myers, his mother, with whom Lauren lives with in Teesdale, County Durham, said before Christmas: "We just want him to know that we are here for him and desperately want to know how he is. Please, Gary, even if you don't feel able to come home, please just get in touch."