MILITARY police dressed in white forensic suits have been seen digging in a Moredon garden.

Officers arrived in unmarked vans on Monday lunchtime and have since been seen searching a terraced home on Abbey View Road.

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One onlooker, who lives nearby, claimed to have seen forensics officers holding an object around a foot in length after digging in the garden. The man, who asked not to be named, told the Adver officers had gone into the house with it before returning outside around 30 minutes later.

The man, 32, whose flat overlooks the search scene, said: “I got a call to say there were police everywhere. They were digging for hours and hours.”

When he saw the officers had apparently found an object he felt “sick to my stomach”, he added.

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Police are searching a house in Abbey View Road, Moredon Picture: DAVE COX

Another man, 53, who also lives nearby, referred to the heavy police presence: “It’s got to be serious for that. They don’t dig a garden up for nothing.”

A car was apparently seized from the front drive of the house.

An officer at the scene would not comment on the nature of the investigation, saying only that it was an ongoing inquiry. Wiltshire Police confirmed that the Royal Military Police was leading the investigation.

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An MOD spokesman said one person had been arrested, but refused to give the age or sex of the individual in custody. Similarly, the MOD would not confirm the charge for which the person had been arrested.

Later, the MOD said the arrest had been made in connection with the disappearance of toddler Katrice Lee in 1981.