Julia Skala reportedly left her home in Mitcham at around 13:00hrs on Monday, 8 January.

She was wearing a black North Face jacket, black trousers and white Nike trainers. She was carrying a black Nike rucksack.

The 16-year-old was reported missing the following morning and an investigation was launched.

Over the past eight days officers have carried out extensive enquiries, including recovering CCTV from the area and house-to-house enquiries.

Superintendent Josh Laughton, from the local policing team in south-west London, said: “Julia’s family have told us it is unusual for her to be away from home for this long. While there’s no evidence to suggest she has come to harm, we are growing increasingly concerned about her welfare.

We use a range of tactics to trace the movements of a missing person, however despite our enquiries, we still have no indication of where she is.

Julia has links to Lambeth, Camden and Islington. It’s likely she would have travelled by public transport. I would ask anyone who thinks they may have seen her over the past week to come forward immediately.

Report immediate sightings by calling 999 quoting the reference 24MIS000879. Share non-urgent information by calling 101.

You can also contact the Missing Person’s charity anonymously on 116 000.