Murder arrest after human remains discovered in St Helens flat

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after human remains were found in a flat, police have said.

Officers were called to Gerrards Court in St Helens at about 11:30 GMT on Thursday where they subsequently discovered the remains.

Merseyside Police said a 65-year-old man from the town was being questioned by detectives after being detained on suspicion of murder.

House-to-house, CCTV and forensic enquiries are continuing in the area.

No further details about the human remains have been provided by police.

Det Ch Insp Tracy Allen said: “I know this information will be both shocking and distressing for people in the community to hear, and I want to reassure them we are carrying out a number of lines of enquiry to establish what has taken place.

“Although an arrest was made just hours after the incident was reported, we are still in the very early stages.

“As always the public’s help is vital and I would ask anyone who lives in the area and has any information about this incident or any CCTV or doorbell camera footage that could have captured anything suspicious to contact us as a matter of urgency.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact @MerPolCC on Twitter or ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook or call 101 with log 337 of Thursday 8 January.

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.