Police are investigating 30 sightings of a Sussex woman, nicknamed The Cat, who is wanted in connection with a £300,000 fraud inquiry.

Calls have flooded in since Sussex Police launched a nationwide hunt for Fiona Mont, 29, from Hove.

Detective Constable Steve Skerrett, of Steyning police, said: "Calls have come in from Sunderland, Dorchester, Lancashire, and Ardingly. One person said he saw Miss Mont entering a pub in Brighton.

"We are actively pursuing new lines of inquiry, but Miss Mont's whereabouts is still not known."

The daughter of Joan Mont, former leader of East Sussex County Council, and the late Neville Mont, who was Under Sheriff of East Sussex, Miss Mont disappeared after being released on bail in connection with the fraud inquiry.

Computer companies were ripped off by a company which ordered equipment and never paid the bills.

Final demands and letters threatening legal action are still arriving at her former home in Sackville Road, Hove.

The current occupier, who did not wish to be named, said today: "I was amazed when I read about her in the Argus. I only met her a couple of times when we were buying the place and she seemed perfectly charming."

Public school-educated Miss Mont was nicknamed The Cat by a boyfriend who is now serving time in a French jail for drugs smuggling. He said she had nine lives.

Police believe she tried to trick them by faking her own death while on bail. Her Rover 280 was found abandoned at Beachy Head.

A search by police and coastguards was called off two days later when her mother reported receiving a telephone call from her daughter.

Miss Mont was last seen flying out of Shoreham in a light aircraft piloted by convicted drugs dealer Graham Heskett, known as The Baron.

Police are convinced she is still in Britain and warn men, especially, not to be taken in by her.

DC Skerrett said: "She tends to target them to get what she wants. I spoke to her once and found her in just a bikini."

Miss Mont's aliases include Frances Montgomery, Alison Miller, Jacqueline Mayhew and Jemima Chadwick.

Anyone with information should call Sussex Police on 0845 6070 999.