Two men held over Bradford bonfire body - but ‘no link’ to other murders

A 39-year-old and a 32-year-old man have been arrested by West Yorkshire Police on suspicion of murder following the discovery of the burning body by firefighters on land in the Holme Wood area of the city yesterday morning.

The body - which has still not been formally identified - was found near Holme Lane which is less than a mile from New Lane, near the village of Tong, where the bodies of two young men were found on Tuesday evening.

Today Det Supt Paul Taylor, who is leading the investigation into the second incident, said: “We are not drawing any connection to the recent incident on New Lane, in Tong.

“I believe the answers to this discovery near Holme Lane lie locally and we would ask anyone who may have any information or any witnesses to contact the police immediately.”

Mr Taylor said a house on Eggleston Drive, which was raided by police yesterday, was now the subject of a detailed forensic examination.

A post-mortem examination on the body is due to take place later today.

Police were called to the Holme Wood Estate, in south Bradford, at about 6.30am yesterday where firefighters found the body on a bonfire on open ground in Pit Hill Park.

It is understood the body was badly burned and police have still not confirmed whether it is a man or a woman.

The scene is a five-minute drive from New Lane where the two men were found dead by the side of the country lane on Tuesday evening.

The two victims, in their mid-20s to 30s, were discovered by a passing motorist.

Police said it was possible the pair were killed elsewhere and dumped in New Lane.

A post-mortem examination carried out on one of the men showed he died from head injuries.

They have not been named.