Hundreds join serial prostitute killer hunt

British police said yesterday hundreds of extra officers had been drafted in from round the country in a manhunt for a serial killer they suspect murdered five prostitutes in an English town in two weeks.

The naked bodies of five young women have been found round Ipswich, spreading fear in the usually quiet town in the county of Suffolk in eastern England.

Anneli Alderton, 24, was strangled and Paula Clennell, also 24, was killed by "compression to the neck", detectives said. The murderer has been dubbed the Suffolk Strangler, although the precise way all the women died has yet to be established.

The case has echoes of those involving the 19th century prostitute killer Jack the Ripper, who was never found, and Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper. He killed 13 women, mainly prostitutes, in northern England between 1975 and 1980.

"We have 244 officers joining to assist us from nine police forces - but that number is continuing to rise," Suffolk Assistant Chief Constable Jacqui Cheer told reporters. A senior Suffolk police officer said on Wednesday his force - one of the smallest in England - had been overwhelmed by the murders, though he later said he meant the killings had been emotionally overwhelming. Prime Minister Tony Blair has spoken of his "horror of the situation" and pledged his full support for the investigation.

"For any force this is a major challenge and therefore we are determined to ensure that they have everything they need," said a spokesman for Mr Blair's office.

Police believe Ms Clennell was last seen shortly after midnight on Sunday. The bodies of Ms Clennell and another woman, thought to be prostitute Annette Nicholls, 29, were discovered near Ipswich on Tuesday.