THE father of murdered Kent air stewardess Lucie Blackman has launched a new system in a bid to help prevent young people going missing without trace.

Safetytext allows youngsters to send a 'delayed' text message to their parents or a friend with information about where they are, who they are with and a contact telephone number.

The message will only be sent if it is not cancelled within a set time limit.

Tim Blackman hopes that the system will mean no other parents will have to suffer the ordeal he went through when 21-year-old Lucie, from Sevenoaks, was abducted and killed in Tokyo four years ago.

He said: "We didn't know what had happened to her. I can only hope that her end was simple: that she simply drank some drugged champagne, was looking over the sea and collapsed.

"Since losing Lucie I have become much more aware of children and young adults, in terms of their aspirations for travel and going to gigs or concerts. They have a much more far-ranging life than they used to and as a parent it becomes very worrying.

"Young people will often tell us where they are going and then, for reasons beyond their control they end up going somewhere different with different people."

Mr Blackman, who is a director of Safetytext, hopes the new system will mean that young people can be traced far quicker than his own daughter, who was missing for six months before her body was found.

He said: "The Safetytext system means they can send a text saying precisely where they are and what they are doing. When they get home safely they can cancel it and no-one has to know anything different.

"But if something does go wrong - and they can face dangers like bullying, drugging, kidnapping, date rape - then the message will be sent to their buddy number."

People of all ages can try out the Safetytext system or sign up for the service by visiting www.Safetytext.com