The families of three London schoolgirls feared to have fled to Syria to become jihadi brides have accused the Metropolitan Police of failing to pass on a crucial letter.
They say a letter from the force requesting to interview the girls in relation to a classmate who ran off to Syria last year should have been handed directly to the families.
However, the letters were hidden by the girls in their school textbooks and their families never saw them.
Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase, who attended Bethnal Green Academy in east London, sparked a police hunt after they flew to Istanbul from Gatwick Airport last month and are now believed to be in Syria.
Abase Hussein, the father of Amira, insisted that if he had seen the police letter he would have talked his daughter out of leaving and taken away her passport.
Halima Khanom, sister of Kadiza Sultana, said: "We wouldn't have been here today doing this if we'd got that letter and known what was going on."
Scotland Yard confirmed that it sent letters out to the three girls after their friend disappeared in December and that they were also spoken to by officers as part of a "routine inquiry".
A Metropolitan Police statement said: "The Metropolitan Police Service has been engaged with staff at the girls' school since December 2014 as part of the routine inquiry by officers investigating the disappearance of their friend.
"There was nothing to suggest at the time that the girls themselves were at risk and indeed their disappearance has come as a great surprise, not least to their own families.
"The girls were spoken to in December 2014 as part of the routine inquiry by officers investigating the disappearance of their friend.
"We continue to liaise with the school and local education authority in connection with this ongoing investigation."
