The alarm was first raised on Thursday evening when Amanda failed to return to her home in Blacklands, Purton.

She had left home around 9.30am that day and dropped off her boyfriend at 11.30am in Calne. Her car was found in car park C of the West Swindon District Centre around 6.15pm. Her mother phoned the police that evening. They made initial inquiries and then mobilised a helicopter to make preliminary searches across Swindon.

Officers on the ground also started making inquiries and on Friday, detectives contacted local media so that public appeals for information could be made.

On Saturday, the Wiltshire search and rescue team were called in to assist police who were then combing the West Swindon area for vital clues.

Over the weekend, detectives' concerns grew as there was still no sign of Amanda or any information on her whereabouts. A major incident room was set up at Westlea police station as a team of 50 officers worked to piece together Amanda's last known movements.

Then, on Monday evening, in a dramatic development, detectives arrested a Swindon man on suspicion of kidnapping Amanda. He was detained for 36 hours and police later applied for an extension to allow them further time for questioning.

On Tuesday, a forensic team searched a building site of the former Knoll House Hotel in Malmesbury. Detectives took a man hidden under a blanket to the area in a people carrier and a female police officer sat in the front of the vehicle videoing the man with a camcorder.

Today, officers are due to flood the West Swindon shopping centre to canvas passers-by in the hope of jogging the public's memory. They are also set to visit Calne and Purton where they will distribute some 1,000 posters printed by the Evening Advertiser.