Tobin search of Brighton property halted for weekend
Forensic archaeologists and police officers searching a property linked to serial killer Peter Tobin have halted their operation for the weekend.
Tobin, 63, used to work as a handyman at the former Seafront Hotel in Marine Parade, Brighton, in the 1980s, before it was converted into bedsits.
He is now serving three life sentences for murdering Angelika Kluk, Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol.
Police said the search was off until Monday to give residents some respite.
Det Ch Insp Nick Sloan, who is leading Operation Ardley, said: "Owners Brighton Housing Trust and the tenants at 152-154 Marine Parade, Brighton have been very patient and cooperative throughout the disruption caused by the police activity.
"We will resume work on Monday at 8am, allowing the residents some respite from the search, on what will be the second weekend of the operation."
He added that police scene guards would remain at the location throughout the weekend.
The search of the property is part of an ongoing investigation. Tobin lived at the former hotel and at 67 Station Road, Portslade, during the late 1980s.
Last week, police concluded their search of the Portslade home, saying they were fully satisfied that it was not linked to any criminal actions by Tobin.
Extensive searches of the garden, ground floor and basement were made during the nine-day operation.
The nationwide investigation, called Anagram, is to discover whether Tobin, of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, is responsible for other murders.
He was told in December 2009 he would never be freed from prison when he was sentenced for strangling 18-year-old Miss McNicol.
Tobin was already serving life terms for the murders of Miss Hamilton, 15, and 23-year-old Miss Kluk, a Polish student whom he killed in Glasgow in September 2006.
In 2007, detectives discovered the remains of Miss Hamilton, from Bathgate, near Edinburgh, and Miss McNicol, from Tillingham in Essex, buried in the garden of a house in Margate, Kent, to which Tobin had moved in March 1991.
Sussex Police have appealed for anyone with information about the property in Marine Parade, Brighton, during the late 1980s or about Peter Tobin, who lived in Brighton and Hove on and off during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, to contact them.