Inside of house to be excavated

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A police spokeswoman said work would now begin to prepare the inside of the property for excavation on Sunday. This will involve concrete being drilled out to the damp proof course.

Detectives believe a body they uncovered on Friday at the house in Margate, Kent, where Peter Tobin once lived, is that of missing student Dinah McNicol.

Miss McNicol, of Tillingham, Essex, was 18 when she vanished in 1991 - the same year as West Lothian schoolgirl Vicky, whose remains were found buried at the house on Monday.

Detective superintendent Tim Wills, who is leading the Essex Police probe, said: "The post-mortem examination is complete but there is nothing further I can say."

On Friday Mr Wills described the operation as a "slow and painstaking process".

Tobin, 61, lived at the address at the centre of the probe for a short time in 1991. The former handyman has been charged with murdering Miss Hamilton, who was 15 when she went missing, and appeared at Linlithgow Sheriff Court on Thursday.

The area surrounding the house remains sealed off by police tape. Officers said on Friday they had found remains, thought to be those of Miss McNicol, close to the patio in the back garden.

Peter Lowton, Assistant Chief Constable of Essex Police, said: "Based on both the height of the body and the clothing with the body, we believe it is Dinah."

He said the force was now concentrating on gathering evidence as part of the inquiry into the death of Miss McNicol. When asked if the force was close to making any arrests over Miss McNicol's disappearance, he said: "It is too early to tell."