Nadine Dorries has finally resigned after a second ‘missing persons’ advertisement was placed in her local newspaper – this time on its front page.

The Bedford Times & Citizen gave over its front and back pages on Thursday to the wraparound advertisement for pressure group 38 Degrees, which campaigns for “a better Britain for everyone who calls our country home”.

The advert called for Ms Dorries, the Tory MP for Mid Bedfordshire, who announced in June she was going to resign, to “shape up or ship out” more than 400 days since she last contributed in the House of Commons.

She announced her resignation on Saturday.

Its publication came a week after national radio station LBC took out its own ad on page three of the same paper as part of reporter Henry Riley’s bid to track Ms Dorries down.

Tom Kuehnel, campaigns manager at 38 Degrees, said prior to her resignation: “With Nadine Dorries still missing in action, a ‘missing person’ ad in her local paper seemed the natural next step. Her constituents say they haven’t seen her in the area in months and they’re starting to get worried – if not for the absentee MP herself, then for their own rights to democratic representation.

“With more than 82,000 signatures on her petition and a huge public outcry from everyone from her local councils to the Prime Minister himself, it’s unbelievable that Ms Dorries continues to claim taxpayers’ money for a job she’s refusing to do.

“Each one of the messages we’ve included in our advert comes from a Mid Bedfordshire resident who has been denied their right to democratic representation by Ms Dorries’ disrespectful dereliction of duty.

“If she cares more about newspaper columns and TV appearances than standing up for these constituents, the very least she can do is step aside for someone who will give them the representation they deserve – or step up and start doing the job they elected her to do.”

Last year, 38 Degrees took out front page ads across five regional dailies – Cambridge News, Derby Telegraph, Northern Echo, Western Morning News and Yorkshire Post – in a bid to challenge then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s law-breaking.

HTFP has approached Ms Dorries for a response.