Police are searching two new sites in the Brighton area for more victims of serial killer Peter Tobin.



The bodies of Dinah McNicol and Vicky Hamilton were found in a
Margate garden


Specialist search teams have arrived at addresses where the triple murderer lived during the late 80s.

Officers have been using ground-penetrating radar to find out if any bodies or evidence are buried at the homes.

The searches - at 152-154 Marine Parade, Brighton and two beauty shops with a flat above at 67 Station Road, Portslade - are part of a nationwide inquiry into whether Tobin is responsible for any more murders.

The 63-year-old was told last December he would die in jail after being convicted of strangling 18-year-old Dinah McNicol.

The former church handyman was already serving life sentences for the murders of 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton and Angelika Kluk, 23.

Sky News' Paul Harrison said the searches have come after police received information dating back to the 70s, 80s and 90s.

He said that while residents were aware of the link to Tobin's past, police only told them about the dig this morning.

Harrison added: "In the past three years or so Peter Tobin has been going through some lengthy trials.

"He was convicted of three murders - while all that was going on it was difficult for there to be public police activity.

"What we understand is that police have now reached a threshold of information they believe warrants a search of these two properties."

Tobin lived in Brighton for 20 years from the late 60s, including in an eight-bedroom house with a patio garden in Dyke Road - but no other addresses are being searched.

Harrison said the police investigation into the serial killer's past - dubbed Operation Anagram and involving forces across the UK - is extremely complicated.

Tobin is known to have lived in several places, including Glasgow, East Sussex, Kent and Hampshire.

Harrison added: "So far, wherever he has gone there have been murders."

Police have said it would be "insensitive" to comment on whether the development is linked to any specific deaths.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Sloan, of Sussex Police's major crime unit, said the searches could continue for up to four weeks.