POLICE were today continuing their investigations in the garden of a home in Hampshire.

Officers are believed to have been searching the home and garden of the house in Bishop's Waltham since the beginning of the week.

Mystery surrounds the operation, details of which did not emerge until yesterday.

Police are refusing to release any information on the search which they said began after they received "intelligence''.

They also added that the operation was "historical'' and had nothing to do with the current owners of the semi-detached house in Hoe Road.

This morning officers remained on guard at the house in the quiet cul-de-sac, which contains six properties, and all the lights in the house remained switched on.

Uniformed police officers conducted regular checks on the house at the centre of the inquiry using flash lights.

Behind a grey police shield erected at the back of the house forensic experts yesterday continued to search the garden which backs on to open moorland.

Uniformed officers parked in an unmarked police car outside the house refused to allow anyone to knock on the front door. A black four-wheeled drive Mitsubishi remained parked outside the home.

The woman living at the address, believed to be Tracy Howett, aged around 30, has not been seen since Monday.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: "I've seen the police vans coming up and parking there and things like that - I've seen forensics going in and out but I don't know what's going on. I'd been away and I came back on Monday night and they were there then, but I got the impression they had been there before that.''