Canning Town murders: Two men arrested after women's bodies found in freezer

Police have been working at a block of six flats, where one of the ground floor windows is covered with plastic and another boarded up

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after the bodies of two women were discovered in a freezer at a flat in east London, police have said.

Officers were called to an address in Vandome Close, Canning Town at about 11.45am on Friday after local residents raised "concerns for the welfare of an occupant".

A murder investigation, led by the Metropolitan Police's Homicide and Major Crime Command, is underway and the force said it was working to formally identify the women and trace their next of kin.

A 50-year-old man was arrested on Monday morning and is in custody in an east London police station while a 34-year-old man was arrested a day later.

The discovery left residents in the area shaken, with one resident of the block, who did not want to be named, saying: "I'm astonished, it's a little community."

"We're all tight-knit around here, everybody knows everybody," he added.

A 49-year-old man, who has lived on the street for 18 years and did not want to be named, said he had spoken to police.

"They told me that a body had been found, they showed me a photo of a woman but I didn't know her," he said.

"I've just heard on the news that it was two bodies. [I'm] just wondering why?"

Scenes of crime officers in protective clothing were at the scene on Monday evening.

Police at a property on Vandome Close in east London where two women have been found dead (PA)

Bags of evidence were carried out of the building that contains six flats, while officers guarded the entrance behind police tape.

The glass front door of the block of flats was covered to prevent people seeing inside.

Detective Superintendent Paul Monk, from the Homicide and Major Command, said: "We have specialist detectives working round the clock on this case, which naturally has caused a great deal of concern in the local community.

"There are number of strands to our investigation and we have now made two arrests. Those men are in custody and will be interviewed.

"They were arrested at addresses in west and east London and we are searching those addresses and carrying out a number of enquiries.

"We also have a large crime scene in place at the address in Vandome Close and expect it to be there for some time."

Additional reporting by agencies