A police task force was scouring the Vale this week in the hope of finally cracking one of Britain’s most infamous unsolved murders.

Metropolitan Police are hunting for the body of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh who disappeared without trace more than 24 years ago.

A mechanical digger was used to create a trench in a field at Ufnell Bridge, off the B4084 between Pershore and Drakes Broughton early on Tuesday morning.

Ground-penetrating radar was being used to examine the earth for evidence that it was disturbed back in July 1986.

Nothing had been found at the time the Journal went to print but the Metropolitan Police confirmed that its search would be continuing all day yesterday and possibly extend into today.

Forensic experts, the University of Gloucestershire’s Professor David Hawksworth, a fungi expert and environmental scientist, and Patricia Wiltshire, of the University of Aberdeen, an expert in decomposition and microscopic evidence, were helping with the search.

Miss Lamplugh, aged 25, disappeared after leaving her west London offices to meet a mystery client known only as Mr Kipper.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Officers investigating the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh have carried out a search of an area near Pershore.

“The Met remains committed to solving the Suzy Lamplugh case and we will continue to work towards this end. We will follow up any information in relation to this case.”

Two vans and a four-wheel-drive vehicle were parked on the edge of the site as officers used surveying equipment to examine the land.

The latest search comes after a potential witness said he saw a mound of earth there around the time Miss Lamplugh vanished. It is about six miles from the disused military barracks at Norton searched by police in December 2000.

On the day of Miss Lamplugh’s disappearance, witnesses reported seeing her argue with a man outside a property in Shorrold Road, Fulham. Her white Ford Fiesta was later found a mile-and-a-half away. She was declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1994.

Officers have examined thousands of lines of inquiry and conducted DNA testing on 800 bodies. Although the case ground to a halt in October 1987, the file remained open and the investigation was actively restarted in 2000.

The area being searched has been linked to prime suspect and convicted killer John Cannan, of Sutton Coldfield. It is claimed his prison name was “kipper”.

Cannan was released from a hostel days before Miss Lamplugh disappeared and a former girlfriend told police he suggested the body was at Norton barracks.

He has been questioned several times but in 2002 prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to charge him.

6 The day that Suzy vanished - page 5.

4 The grim search goes on in a field near Pershore where Suzy Lamplugh’s body may be buried