Officers searching for Shannon Matthews are examining possible links to an alleged abduction attempt of another girl on the same day that the nine-year-old disappeared a week ago.

Police in West Yorkshire are now concerned that Shannon had “fallen into the wrong hands” and were conducting research and surveillance on individuals of interest in the area. Search teams are now using dogs trained to sniff out human bodies.

Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan, leading the hunt that has entered its eighth day, said officers were appealing for information on anyone or any vehicles that seemed unusual or out of place in the Dewsbury area last Tuesday.

Shannon was last seen on that day at 3.10 pm leaving her school after returning from a swimming trip. At around 9am just six miles away in Wakefield a reported attempted abduction of a 12-year-old took place.

According to media reports, the girl was walking to school when a gold Ford Mondeo pulled up beside her. The male driver wound down the window and asked her to get in, before leaning over and opening the door. The girl then ran away.

Police today released a photo of the coach that transported Shannon to and from Dewsbury Sports Centre as well as a picture of the nine-year-old at her most recent birthday party.

Shannon is known to have written on her bedroom wall that she wanted to go and live with her biological father, Leon Rose, in Huddersfield and to have told friends that afternoon that she might not go home.

However, Mr Brennan said it had been impossible to ascertain whether Shannon had in fact attempted to go home that afternoon. Nor has any evidence been uncovered to suggest she made the trip to Huddersfield.

He acknowledged that in cases of child disappearances it was “very rare” to have combed an area for almost a week yet failed to uncover any clues as to their whereabouts.

However, he insisted that the hunt for Shannon – a police operation involving 250 officers as well as round-the-clock searches by relatives and neighbours – would not be scaled down.

In fact, police were now widening their inquiry to include individuals and incidents elsewhere in the country that could be linked to the Matthews case.

In the local area, police had carried out searches at some 200 local houses and ultimately planned to search up to 2,000 homes, Mr Brennan said. Open areas were also being scoured by mounted officers, specialist search and rescue teams, sniffer dogs, aerial support, and mountain rescue teams.

On Saturday, divers were called in to dredge a small lake near Shannon’s home – the second time they had been brought in since the search began. However no items linked to the young girl were retrieved.

Shannon lived with her 32-year-old mother, stepfather Craig, two brothers - Tony, 11, and Cameron, 5 - and her baby sister, Courtney, 2. She is understood to have other siblings who do not live at the same house. Relatives said her brother Tony, unlike his sister, had a history of running away from home.

Police described Shannon as white, around 4ft 1in and slim, with shoulder-length, medium-brown hair, which was possibly tied up in a ponytail. She has blue eyes and freckles.

She was wearing a black school jumper bearing the logo of Westmoor Junior School, a white cotton T-shirt, black trousers and a black, waist-length coat with fur around the hood. She was also wearing pink and grey furry boots branded “Bratz”, a television show that relatives said she adored.

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