Four held after dismembered body find

Four people were arrested yesterday after parts of a dismembered body were found in the boot of a car that had plunged down the embankment of a motorway.

Four people were arrested yesterday after parts of a dismembered body were found in the boot of a car that had plunged down the embankment of a motorway.

A woman and two men who were injured in the accident on the westbound carriageway of the M62 in Cheshire were arrested after their treatment.

Detectives traced the damaged car back to a house in Oldham, 45 miles away, where they are believed to have found traces of blood. A fourth person, also from Oldham, was arrested hours later. A murder inquiry was launched immediately and detectives began trying to identify the victim.

Paramedics and police called to the scene of the accident at 10pm on Wednesday found the body parts inside black bin bags in the wrecked red Volkswagen Polo. Yesterday, a 44-year-old woman and one of the men arrested after the accident were being held for questioning. The other man was under police guard at a hospital in Warrington.

Christine Wrigglesworth, 50, who lives near the house that was searched, said: "[The police] went into the house and came out with a man they had arrested. The woman who lives in that house has been there for 11 years." A spokeswoman for Cheshire police said: "Following an investigation of the vehicle, it was identified that the car contained human remains. We are treating this as a murder inquiry."