Jay Slater's hometown prays for Brit, 19, who vanished after leaving Tenerife nightclub: Hunt for teenager moves to 'badlands' as search enters its seventh day and his mother tells him 'we just need you home' in direct appeal

Worried residents in missing British teenager Jay Slater's hometown are praying for his safety at a church service today as the search for the 19-year-old who vanished after leaving a Tenerife nightclub enters its seventh day.

The gathering has been planned for Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire where the apprentice bricklayer lives with his family and where locals told of their shock and sadness at his disappearance.

Jay's mother, who has travelled out to the Spanish holiday island, has made a direct appeal to her son - telling him: 'We just need you home.'

Her call came as rescue teams shifted their focus to a 2,000ft-deep ravine area dubbed the 'badlands' around the mountain village of Masca.

The area was described as 'very difficult' to search due to its steep and perilous slopes. 

Back home in Oswaldtwistle, Rev Matt Smith from West End Methodist Church, told the BBC of today's service: 'We will offer our prayers for Jay and give an opportunity for people to leave messages for him and light candles.

'We are continuing to pray for Jay and hold his family in our prayers.'

Deryn Regan, owner of West End Fish and Chips where Jay was a customer, said: 'Everybody knows everybody so, for something like this to happen in our area, it does sadden us all.' 

Mr Slater's mother issued her new appeal for help while defending her decision to not visit the Tenerife beauty spot where the search is being carried out with his dad and brother today.

The other family members journeyed to a remote gorge above the village of Masca, 19 miles from the party resort of Playa de les Americas at an altitude of 3000ft to where Jay's mobile phone last pinged on Monday morning.

But Debbie has revealed her choice not to attend with them has caused her to be on the receiving end of vile social media trolls who have compared her to Karen Matthews.

Debbie said: 'People keep saying on social media why aren't I up there and calling me the new Karen Matthews, I just can't face it.

'I don't want to go up there in case I see something that I don't want to. I'm just hoping everything will turn out for the better. If I went up there I would just break down.

'The last few days have been awful. I just need him back. He is a handsome lad from Lancashire and he shouldn't be missing in Tenerife.'

Karen Matthews, dubbed 'Britain's worst mother' was behind the fake kidnap of her own nine-year-old schoolgirl daughter Shannon Matthews which horrified the nation in 2008.

Her co-conspirator Michael Donovan - who died aged 54 in April this year - kept Shannon in his council flat for 24 days after she went missing from her home estate in Dewsbury.

Matthews had initially been seen crying on the news as she pleaded with the public to help her find her daughter.

He and Matthews had planned to 'discover' Shannon and claim a £50,000 reward for her safe return which they would split. 

Donovan and Matthews were both jailed for eight years in January 2009 at Leeds Crown Court for their roles in Shannon's apparent abduction.

Meanwhile, the father and brother of Jay have paid an emotional visit to the spot where search teams are focusing their hunt for him.

Warren Slater and his son Zak, 24, were joined by other family and friends at the place which has been the focus of attention all week by police.

Warren and Zak looked on as mountain rescue teams and civil protection units with high powered binoculars scanned the cactus strewn ravine looking for clues.

Friends of Jay who had flown in from Britain were also among the group and they spent several hours at the scene as search teams explained what they were doing.

Both father and son appeared to be in tears as they hugged each other at the isolated spot and Warren simply said: 'I just want the boy back.'

They also visited the AirBnB where Jay had gone after the festival with two mystery British men and from where he had sent two Snapchat messages to his friend Lucy Mae Law.

The family gathering came six days after Jay disappeared in Tenerife on Monday morning.

Lucy Law, 18, was the last person to speak to Jay when he called her at around 8am on Monday morning from a secluded mountain pass in Masca.

The walk from Jay's last known location to his accommodation would have taken about 11 hours on foot.

Lucy, who attended the NRG music festival with Jay, said he called and told her he was 'lost in the mountains, he wasn't aware of his surroundings, he desperately needed a drink and his phone was on one per cent'.

This weekend a new bombshell image which is the last known photograph of Jay was uncovered - believed to have been taken at Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas in the early hours of Monday morning.

It shows Jay in the grey sport top with green shoulder edging that he was wearing when he went missing, with Lucy alongside him.

This morning it emerged that she has been questioned again at length by Spanish police separately with officers wanting to go through timings once again with her although there is no suggestion of anything untoward.

It comes as a GoFundMe set up by Lucy to help look for Jay has raised £27,000, speedily approaching its £30,000 target.

The rescue teams are currently scouring a 2,000ft-deep ravine in the remote, desert-like Teno Nature Reserve in a bid to find the missing teenager on the sixth day of searching.

Ms Duncan has said she still believes her son may have been kidnapped.

It follows Jay's mother vowing to stay in Tenerife for 'as long as it takes' - as it emerges a new sighting of her son is being investigated.

Speaking to MailOnline, Debbie, 55, revealed that there has been a new sighting. She said: 'Someone has come forward to say they saw someone who they thought was Jay walking back down the road sat on a bench.

'He was with two men looking a bit worse for wear, and they were by a church, this guy has come forward and told the police about it and they are looking into it. We don't know if it was Jay for sure, but it's a start.

'They said it was about 6pm which is ten hours after he was seen by the lady in the village. But if it was him what was he doing there and who are these two men?

'All I know is that I am going to stay here for as long as it takes, I'm not going home unless it's with Jay. I'm not going anywhere until they find him.'

The sighting has not yet been officially confirmed.

The last confirmed sighting of Jay was at 8.15am on Monday when a woman saw him walking through the village of Masca, 19 miles from the party resort of Playa de las Americas.

But Ophelia Medina Hernandez, the last person to see Jay, told The Times: 'People don't get lost here.'

She saw him next to a bus stop, adding: 'He was walking normally but a bit quickly.'

British police have offered to help in the hunt for Jay but their offer was turned down by Spanish counterparts.

When asked how she felt that the offer from British cops to help had been declined, Debbie told MailOnline: 'I had a screaming and shouting day when I had the meeting with the police.

'I know the Spanish police mean well, but the problem we are having is the language barrier, we just don't seem to be getting told. I'm sure they are doing their best.

'They told me they had used dogs and drones and then they said Lancashire police had offered their resources but they turned it down, but I think that would have really helped.

'I would feel happier if our people were over helping. It's just so difficult not knowing where he is, the area and the terrain is rough, but the police were saying that now there are too many people up there and it could interfere with their investigation.

'I've said to you before if someone does have him, I don't really want to say anything and it's something the police are looking at but we just don't know what's happened.

'I've seen some things on social media but now I'm staying off that, I'm just shattered, I'm so exhausted, I'm slumped her in a chair absolutely drained, I fainted as well earlier.

'Some of Jay's friends and ex-girlfriends are coming over as well to help look for him but I still can't face going up there. His dad and brother are going to go up to where they are searching.'

Debbie added: 'My energy levels are just zero, I am going through every emotion, screaming, crying, I've just not slept for days.

'It's just so upsetting for all the family, we just don't have any ideas, there are just so many stories flying around about what might have happened and I don't want to know.

'I'm ignoring all of them and I don't want to say anything just in case he is being held against his will.'

It comes after his worried friends said on behalf of his mother that an unknown person is using his Instagram as it's been frequently active, but it isn't Jay.

They also claim that Jay's friends and family have had their accounts hacked and false information shared.

The admin of the Facebook page called Jay Slater Missing, Rachel Louise Harg, wrote: 'Some people are actually this sick in the head, there are people hacking my accounts and Jay's family's, making it pure lies and pretending we are all in it.'

She said Debbie is 'broken' and slammed the mystery person using the account as 'cruel'.

The police are currently searching for Jay in the Teno Nature Reserve, referred to as 'malpais' by locals — a word that translates into English as 'bad land'.

The force declined an offer from Lancashire Police to send support to help find the missing teen.

In a statement released late on Friday, the UK force said it had 'made an offer of support to the Guardia Civil' but this was declined after local cops said they were 'satisfied that they have the resources they need'.

Lancashire Police released a statement regarding Jay's disappearance earlier that day, saying it had offered to provide additional support to officers on the island.

It comes as Lucy today blasted the local Spanish police for 'not doing a good enough job' in finding the missing Brit.

'We are having to do this all by ourselves as Spanish police are not doing a good enough job. They don't even speak English. It's been a very slow process here so we need the British police to come out and help them,' she told The Times.

Meanwhile the owner of holiday rental, Casa Abuela Tina - where Mr Slater is understood to have stayed with two acquaintances - today voiced her worries about the teen after spotting him walking alone down the hills on Monday.

She said: 'It's dangerous walking around here, it's easy to lose yourself. He walked up the road when I saw him for the last time.

'He was alone. He was walking normally, though he was fast.'

Ophelia shared that Jay has also asked about catching the bus from the area before making the journey on foot - which was the only route.

She aired her concerns about the teenager, but in the height of the media frenzy she stated: 'We are not to blame.'

The property, which is listed online as a holiday home, is believed to have been rented by two men Jay was with the night before whilst attending the NRG festival.

In a post on the Facebook page 'Jay Slater Missing', the administrator of the group Rachel Louise Harg said family and friends of Mr Slater were in a 'living nightmare'.

She said: 'There isn't an update for anyone unfortunately.

'Struggling to find words at this time but all I can say is we are looking still and everyone is doing all they can.

'We are drained beyond words - I just can't say no more, I wish I could. I wish this would end now, this living nightmare.

'Searches are ongoing and we remain positive.

'Thanks to you all supporting and helping we can't thank you any more, much love.'

His friend Lucy has called for the British police to assist with the investigation and slammed the local efforts.

She said she wants to 'bring him home to his family'.

'That is all that we want, all that we need,' she told the BBC.

On Friday, search and rescue personnel joined officers from the island's Guardia Civil near the village of Masca where they appeared to focus on a specific area of overgrown terrain.

Some officers used binoculars to survey the landscape before heading towards the bottom of the hillside.

On Thursday, a helicopter flew over Rural de Teno park in the south of the Spanish island as search teams followed various footpaths in the area.

Footage released by the Guardia Civil on Thursday showed the views from the helicopter as it scoured the hillside.

The video, posted to the force's X account, showed officers searching in bushes and overgrown terrain with dogs.