Search gathers pace for two missing Bradford prostitutes

More on the Bradford killings, with video

Officers are convinced the body parts found earlier this week in the River Aire, at Shipley, all belong to Suzanne Blamires.

But, as yet, there is no trace of the bodies of Susan Rushworth and Shelley Armitage.

Dozens of police teams were at work today at a range of locations across Bradford.

Much of the activity is focused on the city's red light district.

Many alleyways and streets in the Sunbridge Road area remained sealed off as officers conducted fingertip searches.

Dogs which are specially trained to find bodies were being used in a number of locations and officers have been seen taking away a large number of objects in plastic bags.

Senior officers are adamant they are not linking the murders of Ms Blamires, Ms Armitage and Ms Rushworth to any other missing persons and murder inquiries.

There has been widespread speculation that detectives are taking a particular interest in the cases of Yvonne Fitt, Gemma Simpson and Rebecca Hall.

Ms Fitt was a prostitute who lived in Bradford and Leeds and was found murdered in 1992. Ms Simpson, from Leeds, has been missing since 2000 and is not a sex worker. Ms Hall's body was found in the Bradford red light district in 2001.

But West Yorkshire Police has maintained that it is not linking the current investigation to these older inquiries.

Inevitably, however, detectives across the region, and even the rest of the UK, will be taking a close interest in how the Bradford operation develops.

There were reports today North Yorkshire officers looking for missing York University chef Claudia Lawrence will liaise with West Yorkshire's homicide and major inquiry team, which is running the Bradford inquiry.