More Jersey bodies 'not ruled out'

Officers said they "could not rule out" the possibility that more bodies would be found at the former children's home Haut de la Garenne in St Martin, on the east coast of the Channel Island.

The remains were discovered inside the building, at the centre of an investigation into alleged child abuse, by a team of specialist officers at around 9.30am on Saturday.

It is not known how old the remains are, but Jersey's deputy chief police officer, Lenny Harper, said it was thought they had been there for more than five years.

He said the skeleton was not that of an infant. It is not yet known if it is male or female.

The States of Jersey Police launched the investigation into alleged child abuse, which has focused on Haut de la Garenne and Jersey Sea Cadets, in November last year.

It involves a number of historical allegations of sexual and physical abuse of children said to have occurred on premises run by the state or voluntary groups.

The allegations span a period from the 1960s up to the early years of the present decade, although police said the bulk of them focus on the 1970s and 1980s.

At a news conference, Mr Harper said the search of Haut de la Garenne, which began on Tuesday, was prompted by information received from some of the victims and witnesses that had been spoken to as part of the inquiry.

Haut de la Garenne is a former Victorian school and orphanage which today serves as a youth hostel. It has been featured in the TV detective series Bergerac as a police station.