In what could be one of Britain's worst-ever child abuse cases, police are looking for the bodies of at least seven children in a former care home in Jersey.

The remains of a skeleton were discovered last week under the concrete floor of the Haut de la Garenne, once a state-run children's home.

Police were alerted to the site after they launched a child abuse investigation last November based on allegations dating back to the 1960s.

Police fear the abuse - sexual, physical and psychological - could date back as far as the 1940s and '50s. Children who once lived at the home have reported being abused by staff on a daily basis.

Reuters adds: The underground room has been identified by many of the 160 people who have contacted police saying the were victims of child abuse, said Harper.

Most of the assaults are alleged to have taken place at the former children's home, many occurring in the cellar.
Harper cautioned that the dog's reaction did not mean another body would be found.

"The search dog is trained to detect decomposing human remains but this includes blood. On a building site there could be a perfectly innocent explanation for the presence of blood," Harper said.

"We've got no evidence from any victims or witnesses of any unlawful killing that took place in there."

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