Police search ends at Tobin's former home

Searches at a former home of serial killer Peter Tobin drew to a close yesterday after police said they were "fully satisfied" it was not linked to any crimes.

Teams of officers and archaeologists spent nine days extensively analysing the rear garden and ground floor and basement areas of the property in Station Road, Portslade, East Sussex.

But Sussex Police said their efforts had failed to uncover any fresh evidence linking Mr Tobin to further crimes.

The focus of their searches will now be concentrated at a second nearby property where he used to live in the 1980s, in Marine Parade, Brighton.

Operation Anagram, a national exercise being conducted by police forces across the UK, was set up to identify issues of concern relating to the killer.

Police started their investigations at the two addresses last Monday, convinced that Mr Tobin claimed more victims as he lived across Britain under different names and trawled the motorways for vulnerable female hitch-hikers.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Sloan, of Sussex Police's major crime branch, said last night that "literally every shovel full of earth or concrete" from the Portslade address had been examined.

He said: "As a result of work conducted under Operation Anagram, two addresses in Brighton and Hove were identified as there being enough intelligence to warrant searches of the back gardens and some interior spaces of the buildings.

"We have a duty to fully investigate any allegations of criminality and have undertaken these searches to satisfy that these premises are not linked in any way to criminal acts.

"With 67 Station Road, we have used ground-penetrating radar to map out any unusual fluctuations in the ground within the garden and the property itself.

"Areas which necessitated further exploration have been excavated and literally every shovel full of earth or concrete has been analysed, sifted and metal-detected by Sussex Police search teams and archaeologist experts from University College London."

As part of the investigation, officers from Sussex Police's specialist search unit excavated a Victorian well in the garden in Station Road.

Using confined space harnesses, it took the team a day to remove earth from the well, digging to a depth of 10 feet while working in precarious conditions.

A Victorian soak-away was also discovered in the basement of the property.

Mr Sloan said: "We have used a team of specialists and experts throughout this operation and I am satisfied that we have conducted a thorough and meticulous search and that this address is unconnected to any criminality linked to Peter Tobin.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the occupants and businesses of 67 Station Road.

"They have been incredibly patient in light of the disruption caused by the police activity and the inevitable large media presence.

"I would also like to thank the wider community in Station Road who may have been temporarily inconvenienced by the police search.