[Dovecot] /var/run/dovecot folder gets deleted on server reboot? ubuntu 10.10

Hi After rebooting my server connections to the mail system set up there failed - on closer inspection no dovecot process was running or got started. When running as root /usr/share/sbin/dovecot -c /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf got error on console /var/run/dovecot/auth-master could not be opened and found no /var/run/dovecot folder!. Is there better script to place in /etc/init.c/ to start dovecot (which will not fail silently?) Any idea what would remove the folder on ubuntu 10.10, running dovecot 2.1.5 and postfix 2.1.7?

Any suggestions?

Jacques