Bags of what are believed to be human bones have been discovered in a river in Sudbury, police have confirmed - prompting investigations at two scenes in the town.

East Anglian Daily Times: A cordon set up outside the grounds of St Gregory's Church in Sudbury Picture: MATTHEW EARTHA cordon set up outside the grounds of St Gregory's Church in Sudbury Picture: MATTHEW EARTH (Image: Archant)

Suffolk police were called shortly after 4.35pm on Thursday, August 27 to the river near Meadow Gates and Croft Bridge after the discovery of bags containing bones.

Police believe the bones, discovered in bags near a submerged shopping trolley, are human remains.

Officers have cordoned off the area while an investigation is conducted by officers - but they have also set up a second cordon and blue tent about 50 metres away, outside the grounds of St Gregory’s Church.

The search there is related to the investigation, police have confirmed.

East Anglian Daily Times: Police cordoned off the scene where bones were found in Sudbury Picture: MATTHEW EARTHPolice cordoned off the scene where bones were found in Sudbury Picture: MATTHEW EARTH (Image: Archant)

The part of the river where the body was found backs onto the courtyard of St Joseph’s care home.

One passerby, who was walking by the river, said: “This is absolutely awful. It’s definitely not the sort of thing you expect to see here.”

Police would like to speak to anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity close to the river.

A force spokesman said: “Officers would like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity close to the river, where a submerged shopping trolley and the bags containing the remains were discovered nearby.”

East Anglian Daily Times: Police have launched a murder inquiry following the find Picture: MATTHEW EARTHPolice have launched a murder inquiry following the find Picture: MATTHEW EARTH (Image: Archant)

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Jones, of Suffolk police, this morning told BBC Radio Suffolk’s Mark Murphy the inquiry was still in its early stages.

“There’s going to be a large crime scene in place there,” he added.

“So there may be some disruption for local people while we investigate and look and do forensic inquiries to ascertain exactly what we have.

“We would really like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity close to the river in recent days.”

Mr Jones said the discovery was reported by a wildlife ranger but that the trolley may have been spotted earlier by someone yet to come forward.

He added: “If people have seen or heard anything earlier, then please come forward. We’d much rather hear from you and be able to eliminate things, than you keep quiet and we don’t have some important information.

“We will we look into the circumstances very carefully to examine exactly what we have. We also do a lot of checks to ascertain who it might be, if it is a person.

“We have a Home Office post-mortem, which will look into that and help us ascertain what we have.

“At this stage, we’re certainly treating them as most likely to be human remains.

“It is very concerning when something like this is found. We have to keep a very open mind about what we have, and about the circumstances.

“As as we get the scientific information back, and as witnesses, hopefully, come forward, we build up a picture of what’s happened, and we’re able to direct our inquiries based on that information.”

Anyone with any information or who has any knowledge of the incident is asked to contact Suffolk police, quoting reference 37/49998/20.