Body in well: Seven arrested in Surrey murder investigation after grisly discovery

Police have now launched a murder investigation

(Getty Images)

Seven men have been arrested after a body was found in a well in the grounds of a house in Surrey. Officers were called to the property in Warlingham after gardeners clearing the grounds made the grim discovery.

Officers said this evening they had retrieved the body after specialist divers from the police marine unit were called to the scene. Seven men, believed to be from Poland, have been arrested and were being held at a south London police station in connection with the death.

A post-mortem examination will take place at East Surrey Hospital mortuary tomrrow.

Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons said: “It is a murder investigation. As far as I am concerned, when a body is found in a well, it either fell in there or was placed in there, and the evidence is apparent that the body was placed in there.”

He said it was not possible to be sure of the body’s gender but, judging by the size, it was most likely to be an adult, not a child. The person was white. He added that the body had not been there for an “extended period of time” and said it was likely to have been there for a “matter of weeks at the most”.

Asked about claims by local residents that there had been quite a bit of trouble in the past couple of years with the people who lived in the house, and that police had been called many times, he said: “The residents have expressed concern, there is intelligence to support that notion, yes.”

Residents expressed shock at the news. Local taxi driver, Richard Toogood, said: “This sort of thing doesn't happen around here. It's very peaceful, very quiet most of the time. Last time we had a murder here was about fifteen years ago.”