Search continues for missing woman

Officers could be seen throughout the day walking in lines across grounds close to the house in Duddleswell, Uckfield which Diane Chenery-Wickens shared with her husband David.

Two forensic officers entered the property carrying sets of equipment.

Police are questioning Mr Chenery-Wickens after a custody extension was granted by Eastbourne magistrates. He is being held on suspicion of her murder.

Mrs Chenery-Wickens, 48, who has worked on shows including Dead Ringers, The League of Gentlemen and Casualty, has not been seen or heard from since January 24, when she travelled with her husband by train from East Grinstead, West Sussex, to London to attend a business meeting at the BBC.

On Friday, police dogs were seen roaming woodland surrounding the property and fingertip searches were carried out inside the house, garden and the grounds.

A tanker was brought in to pump out a waste tank in the garden and a car was removed from her home on a trailer as police hunted for clues surrounding her disappearance. A Sussex Police spokesman refused to reveal what the searches had so far uncovered.

After Mrs Chenery-Wickens and her husband arrived in London, they were said to have parted in the Shepherds Bush area with an agreement to meet up again later at a hairdresser's, where she had an appointment. But Mrs Chenery-Wickens failed to turn up for the appointment and she has not been seen or heard from since.

Her husband reported her missing to the Metropolitan Police the same night and her disappearance has been described by friends and family as out of character and concerning.

Sussex Police said that a 51-year-old man from East Sussex was arrested on suspicion of her murder and taken into custody in Eastbourne.