09:20 UK, Saturday August 06, 2005
SkyNews
Police and social services are attempting to contact a mother who moved abroad but left her teenage daughter behind to fend for herself.
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Elaine Walker, from Redmire, North Yorkshire, decided to make a new life for herself in Turkey after visiting the country on holiday earlier this summer.
But she did not take her 15-year-old daughter with her, leaving the girl a note and just £25 to live on.
It is understood that Miss Walker, a mother-of-five, met a Turkish man while staying in the resort of Antalya.
A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "The police are in consultation with social services about this case but it's still too early to say what action, if any, the police will be taking.
"One thing is we do not have any plans at this time to send officers to Turkey. Our main concern is the welfare of the 15-year-old girl."
Derek Law, corporate director for social services with North Yorkshire County Council, said the teenager "is the victim of a situation completely beyond her control and in the circumstances she is coping remarkably well".
He added: "While this particular situation has attracted a great deal of media attention, it is not uncommon. Social services across the country regularly have to deal with children who, for one reason or another, have been abandoned by their parents."
