'It's the family's worst nightmare': Police chief leading hunt for April, 5, after she was taken by van driver appeals for public's help

• April Jones seen by a friend getting into a stranger's van on Monday
• Her parents in Machynlleth, Wales, are 'beside themselves with worry'
• Hundreds of local residents search 25-mile radius for missing child
• Police officers are becoming 'increasingly concerned' for April's safety
• Posters bearing the message 'KIDNAPPED' produced to raise awareness
• DS Reg Bevan of Dyfed-Powys Police said 'sooner we find her the better'
• Said it appeared she willingly got into vehicle on driver's side last night

Missing: April Jones, 5, who was abducted last night by a stranger from the town of Machynlleth in Wales

A frantic search is underway after a five-year-old girl playing on her bicycle with a friend near her home was last night abducted by a stranger.
April Jones 'willingly' got into a van in the town of Machynlleth in mid Wales, sparking a huge hunt involving police and hundreds of residents.
Officers were today comforting her distressed parents Coral, 40, and Paul, 43, who were said to be ‘beside themselves with worry’.
Detectives said they were becoming 'increasingly concerned' for the girl, who disappeared in the grey or light-coloured vehicle at around 7pm.
Roadblocks were set up and a 25-mile radius search was launched, while officers spoke to April’s friend - the only witness to the abduction.
Volunteers are now helping with a mass police-organised search, with groups for different areas consisting of 20 people and led by an expert.
Reports said those taking part were told not to pick up any piece of child's clothing they discovered, in case it yielded key forensic clues.
Det Supt Reg Bevan of Dyfed-Powys Police said detectives were also interviewing April’s other friends, in what he called a ‘delicate process’.
A neighbour said: 'She is the apple of her parents' eyes - in Welsh we call her “cariad bach”, a little darling. They are lovely people.’
More than 200 local people with torches gathered within an hour at the town's leisure centre after an appeal last night. A search was stood down at midnight but people returned this morning to resume.

On the case: Detective Superintendent Reg Bevan (left) of Dyfed-Powys Police and Superintendent Ian John (right) during a press conference in Aberystwyth

Watching: Police at the scene on the Bryn-y-Gog Estate in Machynlleth, Wales, where the abduction took place

A neighbour, Gwyn Briwnant-Jones, 55, said April - who has a 16-year-old sister and a 10-year-old brother - comes from a loving home, and ‘most of the town’ has been looking for her.
People in the search party were calling out her name on the Bryn-y-Gog Estate, where she lives in the town - and shouts of ‘April, April’ could be heard coming from nearby fields and forestry.
Mr Bevan told a press conference today: 'We've had a significant number of pieces of information. The sooner we find her the better. It's very difficult to give an exact account of what happened. 
'We have been working through the night. The family, as you would imagine - it must be their worst nightmare. It's a very, very difficult time for them.'
Mr Bevan said the description the van is that it is ‘a grey vehicle, small at the front and large at the back’, and that the process of speaking to young children is ‘delicate and time-consuming’.

Disappeared: Police said that April was wearing a purple knee-length coat with grey fur around the hood (seen left), and a white polo shirt. She was said by family friends to be pictured (right) with her father, Paul, 43

He added: ‘We are trying to extract exactly what they have seen and we are very anxious to provide the most accurate information we can without misleading anyone in any way.’

'We are trying to extract exactly what (the young children) have seen and we are very anxious to provide the most accurate information we can without misleading anyone in any way'
DS Reg Bevan, Dyfed-Powys Police

Mr Bevan said the description of the vehicle ‘could be interpreted as something small to a Ford Connect van, something like a Land Rover, and also that April got into the driver's side’.
It appeared April ‘got into the vehicle willingly’, he added, and there was ‘nothing to suggest at this stage that there was a struggle' when she got in.
Mr Bevan said April was with her friends in the evening, ‘some of whom left’ before the incident.

He said that the force is carrying out house-to-house inquiries and searching CCTV footage.

Where is she? April was last seen by another child, getting into a grey or light-coloured van which drove off

Mr Bevan added: ‘We have been very reassured by the response from the local community - that is a difficult task co-ordinating people anxious to help and we are very, very grateful for that help.’

‘My youngest is in the same class at school. Where she lives is where all the children play together. It's a safe environment'

Phil Garrod, family friend

Family friend and local businessman Phil Garrod said both of his young girls were at a birthday party with April at the weekend - less than 48 hours before she was abducted.
‘My youngest is in the same class at school. Where she lives is where all the children play together. It's a safe environment, all the properties look onto where the children play.

‘They are a normal family, lovely people. Her dad used to own a hardware shop in the town but that was a few years ago. One of the pictures we are using is of April on the shoulders of her father.

Pictured: A large number of officers and specialist teams are investigating April's (centre) disappearance. The identities of the other two people in the photo are not known

‘It’s terrible that we are using such a happy picture to help find a missing girl. There are hundreds of people waiting here to go out there. People have been up through the night and won't give up.’

'I've been up through the night. I only slept for an hour at 8am this morning. It was raining all night but we kept looking. No one is going to stop until we find her'

Lynne Thomas, Machynlleth resident

Local resident Lynne Thomas, 39, said: ‘I've been up through the night. I only slept for an hour at 8am this morning. We went out looking as soon as we heard about it online.
‘It was raining all night but we kept looking. No one is going to stop until we find her. I'm off out again now. The police are putting us in search groups to retrace our steps in daylight.
‘It must be horrible for her poor parents. Someone said they are staying at home to answer any phone calls that might come to the house. I hope we find her before it’s dark tonight.’

Worry: April's disappearance has sparked concern in the local area, as well as further afield across the UK

Mr Briwnant-Jones, the neighbour, added: ‘April’s mother knew she was playing with another little girl and when she didn’t come home she went to the other girl’s house to look for her.

'The sooner we find her the better. The family, as you would imagine - it must be their worst nightmare. It's a very, very difficult time for them'

DS Reg Bevan, Dyfed-Powys Police

‘That’s when the girl said April had been taken in a van. They’re a lovely family (and) haven’t had any problems that I know of.’
A Dyfed-Powys Police spokesman said: 'While the details of what happened are vague at the current time, it appears the suspect left the scene and drove off with April.
'At the time of her disappearance, April was wearing a purple knee-length coat with grey fur around the hood, her school white polo top and black trousers.

Emergency: A police officer reads a map as the search for missing five-year-old April Jones continues

Concern: Residents meet at Machynlleth leisure centre in Wales to organise a search for the missing girl

'Many police officers and specialist teams have worked through the night, with extensive searches taking place, and many lines of inquiry are being pursued.'

Missing: April Jones, 5, was last seen getting into a stranger's van at about 7pm on Monday

Mr Bevan said he hopes to have more specific details about the vehicle, and where it could be now, later today. Anyone who was out in the area at 7pm yesterday has been asked to call police.
Dog teams have been involved in the operation to find the five-year-old, and cars in and out of the town, which has a population of 2,000, were being stopped and searched, police said.
April's disappearance has sparked concern in the local area, as well as further afield. People from across the UK have signed up to a Facebook page in a bid to raise awareness.
Those on the group can download a missing poster, featuring three photographs of the girl, before sharing it on their profile. One mother wrote: 'It's every parent's worst nightmare.'
Businessman Shem ap Geraint, who joined the search, said: ‘Pretty much the whole town is out looking. Other local towns are joining in as well. We are searching local woods.'
Chris Dudley, who works at the Skinners Arms pub, near the girl’s home, said the bar was deserted last night.
He said: ‘All the locals are looking for her in this area - the cemeteries, the golf field, playing field, everywhere you can think of. There’s no one in tonight, everybody is outside looking for her.’

Teamwork: Hundreds of residents have been involved in the search operation in Machynlleth in mid Wales

Community: Four members of Machynlleth's junior football team arrive back in the town after searching fields

Inspector Kevin Davies said 'every angle' of the investigation was being covered, police dog teams were involved in the operation and cars in and out of the town were being stopped and searched.

Appeal: Posters to raise awareness about April's disappearance have been shared on Facebook

Locals have put up posters of April around the town as part of their search efforts.
Restaurant owner Razul Islam said neighbours saw the youngster playing outside her doorstep before she vanished.
‘There are hundreds of people out looking for her,’ Mr Islam said. 'It is such a small town and nearly everyone is out looking for her - I’m shocked that it has happened in a town like this.'
Petrol station owner Nerys Zjalic said she had reopened her garage to help with the search.
She told ITV Wales: 'We'll stay open all night if we have to. We heard about the search through social networking sites and there was a lot of people going past our house.
‘My friend called to ask if we would open so people can get petrol to help in the search. Locals are out in full force searching for her.'
She added, to BBC Radio Five Live, that some people had returned home overnight, but were planning to reconvene their search this morning, which shows ‘the community spirit of the town’.
Mrs Zjalic, who knows the missing girl's family, said people had been coming from far and wide to help with the search, and ‘nothing will be the same again’ in the town, following the incident.

Her house: April's home in Machynlleth, Wales. She had been playing with a friend nearby last night

Investigation: April Jones's parents were last night believed to have been at Machynlleth Police Station

Search: Around 200 people were said to be looking for the girl in the town of Machynlleth (file picture)

She said volunteers had flocked to the town to take part, adding that one lady had travelled from Caernarfon in North Wales - a 60-mile trip.
Machynlleth is in the Dyfi Valley and sits on the southern outskirts of Snowdonia National Park.
Volunteer Anwen Morris said locals had searched the area overnight using quad bikes and off-road vehicles.
County councillor Michael Williams, who also joined in the search efforts, said: 'People were co-ordinated by the police and as well as searching the town they went out into forested areas of the valley and wooded areas and out into hamlets and byroads.'
Speaking about April's relatives, he added: 'They are such a lovely, caring family and they are devastated. The community is shocked and stunned over what's happened.'
Cllr Williams said April's parents were 'a really nice young couple’ who recently helped to create a garden on their estate with fruit trees. April's mother worked for Laura Ashley in nearby Aberystwyth.
‘This a really close knit community,' Cllr Williams added. 'The whole village is sad. Nothing like this has ever happened before.’
The way in which the town pulled together also saw refuse collections suspended and local binmen down tools today, so they could help volunteers with the search effort.

Sign: Machynlleth is situated in the Dyfi Valley and sits on the southern outskirts of Snowdonia National Park

Powys County Council said the town's leisure centre is still being used as a 'co-ordination centre' in the search operation and all planned school swimming sessions had been cancelled.

'I am sure I speak for everyone here today and everyone in Wales in saying that our thoughts and our prayers are with April Jones and her family in Machynlleth - the little girl who has gone missing'
Shadow Welsh secretary Owen Smith

Council officials are also providing support for staff and classmates at April's school - Machynlleth Primary - though lessons were going ahead as usual.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Manchester, shadow Welsh secretary Owen Smith said: 'I am sure I speak for everyone here today and everyone in Wales in saying that our thoughts and our prayers are with April Jones and her family in Machynlleth - the little girl who has gone missing. We all hope and pray that she is back in her community and with her family as soon as is humanly possible.'

• Anyone with details on April's disappearance should contact the police on 0300 2000 333