A leading missing persons charity has signed a landmark agreement with the police to ensure the best possible response when someone vanishes.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) signed a National Protocol Agreement (NPA) with the National Missing Persons Helpline to exchange information, handle cases and respond to the issue of missing persons.

The agreement, which will be used by every force in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, will bring significant benefits to the way missing person cases are handled and will help boost the number of people who are found alive and well.

Charity chiefs said the new deal will lead to improved information about missing people and will also help increase public protection and community safety by helping police identify people who are considered at greater risk of coming to harm or of causing harm to others.

The most comprehensive database of missing and unidentified persons in the UK will also be created under the NPA allowing police and the National Missing Persons Helpline to see the scope of the "missing" problem for the first time.

Charity staff are also hoping this will then lead to new research, prevention strategies and greater understanding of the issue.

Chief Executive of the charity, Paul Tuohy, said today: “Everyone at the charity is delighted that our work has formally been recognised by ACPO as central to the field of missing persons.

“This marks the beginning of a positive new era for the charity which we hope will be recognised by the Home Office in the form of continued core funding.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers' (ACPO) lead on missing persons, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Bryan, said: "Jointly with our partner the National Missing Persons Helpline, we have now developed national standards for the management and investigation of missing person enquiries supported by the la-*test*-('") IT systems."

National Missing Persons Helpline, the UK's only charity dedicated to finding missing people and supporting those left behind, welcomed the advancement.

The development of the NPA has already improved information systems in the field of missing persons, with the development of the "Hermes" database software by National Missing Persons Helpline, the adoption of which is now under consideration by police organisations.

The NPA was signed by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Bryan and Paul Tuohy, chief executive of the National Missing Persons Helpline, at the charity's HQ in south-west London.

The charity said it hoped the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland will now sign a similar protocol for Scottish forces.

For more information about the work of the National Missing Persons Helpline visit the charity's website at www.missingpersons.org