Karen Downes last saw her 14-year-old daughter on November 1 2003, after she kissed and waved goodbye in Blackpool town centre.

Since that day, Mrs Downes told the jury at Preston Crown Court: "I've never seen or heard from her again."

Takeaway owner Iyad Albattikhi denies murdering the teenager while co-defendant Mohammed Reveshi denies disposing of her body.

Taking to the witness stand, Mrs Downes, who has three other children, told of the final moments she saw her daughter three and a half years ago.

She said: "I was giving out flyers for an Asian restaurant I was working at. I saw Charlene with one of my other daughters, Rebecca.

"They had just returned from McDonald's and were laughing and joking together.

"They came over the road to speak to me. They were happy and pally.

"Charlene asked if she could wait with me for a while as she waited for her friends. She told me she was going off to the arcades and wouldn't be home until late.

"She gave me a kiss and went off. I've not seen her since."

Ian Goldrein QC, defending for Albattikhi, 29, asked Mrs Downes why she had not reported Charlene missing until the Monday.

She said: "I didn't report her missing because I wanted to give her a full 24 hours. There had been the odd time when she was late home."

The court also heard from the last two people to see Charlene before she disappeared.

Two friends, Natalie Platt and Natasha Hardwick, told the court they were due to babysit that night and waited with Charlene at a bus stop on Church Street before she walked off in the opposite direction.

Tim Holroyde QC, prosecuting, asked Miss Platt if she was aware of an alley behind Talbot Road and if Charlene had ever spoken of it before. She answered: "She used to go there sometimes and get free chips from the Asian workers there.

"She kissed some of them to get £1. They would touch her, but she told me she never had sex with any of them. I saw her kiss them, put her arms around them."

When asked the same question by the prosecution, Miss Hardwick said: "I saw Charlene speak to them and give them a hug. They all seemed to know each other. I never saw something more than a hug."

The jury had earlier been told how Albattikhi was captured by a police surveillance "bug" in Reveshi's flat on Hornby Road saying "I killed her... I was just angry."

The prosecution claim this was Albattikhi confessing to having murdered Charlene, who lived with her parents in Buchanan Street.

Witnesses say Albattikhi, a Jordanian-born owner of Funny Boyz takeaway on Dickson Road, had joked with fellow takeaway employees how the teenager had been "chopped up" and her body had "gone into the kebabs."

Reveshi, 50, also had a financial stake in Funny Boyz.

Despite a thorough search of Reveshi's home, and a nationwide appeal through the media, no trace of Charlene – dead or alive – has ever been found.

The case was adjourned until next Wednesday.

(Proceeding)