‘Six voids’ found under Gloucester cafe linked to serial killer and missing girl Mary Bastholm

Police searching under a cafe for a suspected victim of serial killer Fred West have found “six voids” – and excavation will start tomorrow.

Detective Chief Inspector John Turner today confirmed that two voids were discovered by a production crew working on a documentary, and another four have been found since.

Forensic archaeologists have been undertaking exploratory work at the Clean Plate cafe on Southgate Street in Gloucester in connection with the disappearance of Mary Bastholm who vanished in 1968 aged just 15.

Serial killer West, who took his own life in prison in 1995 aged 53, was previously suspected over her disappearance.

Ms Bastholm’s body has never been found.

DCI Turner said excavation work will begin from tomorrow following safety checks – since asbestos was found behind tiles the other day.

One of the findings presented to police was a photo taken by the production company of what appeared to be blue material buried in one area of the cellar – and Mary was wearing a blue coat when she went missing.

DCI Turner said: “The production company put in an endoscope and found a grainy image of what looked like to me – blue material.”

“The significance of that is when Mary went missing in 1968 she was wearing a blue coat and a blue/white dress and had a blue bag with her”.

The blue material “hasn’t been confirmed” and “there was no requirement for us to do a further endoscope”, DCI Turner said.

The search has been slow as the cafe sits above an ancient burial ground going back to Roman times, he added.