Fred West: Ask expert anything about serial killer and Mary Bastholm police investigation

Police have begun digging up the cellar of a cafe where the body of a suspected victim of serial killer Fred West could be buried.

Officers were seen carrying power drills and shovels into The Clean Plate in Gloucester city centre on Wednesday morning as excavation work began.

Investigators are hunting for 15-year-old Mary Bastholm, who went missing in the city on 6 January 1968.

The teenager worked as a waitress at the Southgate Street cafe, where West is thought to have been a regular.

The police probe began after a TV production company showed detectives a photo taken at the scene of what appeared to be blue material buried in an area of the cellar.

Mary Bastholm, who was last seen at a bus stop, was wearing a blue dress and blue coat when she vanished.

Forensic archaeologists later confirmed a number of structural anomalies within the cellar and six “voids” in the floor.

To help shed some light on the police investigation and the Wests, The Independent has invited an expert in the field to offer his thoughts.

Fred West’s biographer, Geoffrey Wansell, will give readers an opportunity to ask anything about Fred and Rose West and the police probe into Mary Bastholm’s disappearance.

Post your questions below and we’ll put as many as we can to our expert during a live stream that will be available to all registered users.

All you have to do is register to submit your question before 10am on Thursday (May 20) in the comments below.

If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments box to leave your question. Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they’ll be hidden until after we have recorded the live stream. We will then notify all those who have asked questions when the recording in available by replying to your comment.