Questions have been raised about how intensely the search for runaway schoolgirl Megan Stammers and her teacher is being carried out on the Continent.

Despite Sussex Police saying they were working with Interpol and the French authorities over the 15-year-old from Eastbourne's disappearance, it is reported Interpol was unable to confirm it was working on the case.

Neither she nor Forrest has a profile on the crime agency's website, www.interpol.int, under its "yellow notices" section which "help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves".

Forrest is also not listed on the website under its "red notices", profiles used "to seek the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action".

The Daily Telegraph reported that French police were not actively searching and had not carried out standard credit card or mobile phone searches.

It quoted Jean-Philippe Joubert, state prosecutor for Boulogne-sur-Mer, as saying: "These people have been put on a missing persons' list and a European Arrest Warrant has been issued. But there are no dedicated detectives or specific searches going on right now.

"But if the couple are recognised and identified, then they will be arrested."

The Europe-wide search for the pair has failed to uncover any confirmed new sightings, six days after they fled to the Continent.