Suzy Lamplugh: Police digging up field in hunt for estate agent who vanished 33 years ago

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Police investigating the disappearance of a London estate agent 33 years ago have begun digging up a field in Worcestershire, detectives have said.

Scotland Yard said it was searching an area of land in the town of Pershore after receiving new information in the hunt for Suzy Lamplugh.

Lamplugh, then aged 25, went missing after going to show a mystery client around a house in Fulham, west London, in July 1986. She was declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1994.

The Metropolitan Police said it began digging up the field on Wednesday after reviewing information received in response to publicity around the search of a property in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, in November last year.

Police found no evidence after digging up the garden of the house, which previously belonged to the mother of prime suspect John Cannan, during two weeks of searches.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “Information relating to the areas we are currently searching was assessed and the decision was taken to make further enquiries.

“We will not be commenting on any speculation surrounding the search.”

Lamplugh’s family have been notified of the new search, which is being assisted by West Mercia Police.

Scotland Yard said a number of police officers would “remain on site until a thorough search has been completed”. The force added the owner of the land was “in no way connected” to the investigation.

The site is close to a meadow which was dug up by police nine years ago.

In 2010, police used a mechanical digger to create a shallow trench in a field between Pershore and the village of Drakes Broughton.

But forensic examination and tests with ground-penetrating radar devices showed no evidence that the area concealed a shallow grave.

Central to the investigation into Lamplugh’s disappearance is a note in her office diary which recorded details of a lunchtime appointment with a client referred to as “Mr Kipper”.

Cannan, a convicted murderer and rapist, was released from his prison hostel three days before Lamplugh went missing and is said to have been known as “Kipper” behind bars.

He has denied killing the estate agent and prosecutors concluded in 2002 there was insufficient evidence to charge him.