A 37-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering five young women working as prostitutes whose naked bodies have been found within ten miles of Ipswich, Suffolk, over the last three weeks.

The man was arrested at his home in Trimley, near Felixstowe at 7:20 this morning, police said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull said the man is to be questioned this afternoon on suspicion of the murder of all five women - Gemma Adams, 25, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, Annette Nicholls, 29, and Tania Nicol, 19. The arrested man is being held at a Suffolk police station.

"He has been arrested on suspicion of murdering all five women," Detective Chief Superintendent Gull said, refusing to take questions."As legal proceedings are now active, Suffolk police will not be issuing any further comments or appeals at this stage."

Inquests into the deaths of Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls, which were due to start this morning at Ipswich Crown court, have been postponed. An inquest into the fifth murdered woman, Gemma Adams, was opened and adjourned last week.

The bodies of the five women were all found in rural settings, naked but for their jewellery, near Ipswich between Decemember 2 and December 12.

More than 500 officers from 30 forces around the country are working to try to track down the killer. They have also been trawling through 10,000 hours of CCTV footage.

The bodies of the women have been found dumped within ten miles of each other in countryside around Ipswich in a period since December.

As yet police have a cause of death for only two of the victims - Ms Alderton, who was strangled, and Ms Clennell, who died of compression to the neck.

Suffolk police were planning to carry out a reconstruction of events surrounding the deaths later today.

Assistant Chief Constable Jacqueline Cheer said: "If we can trace when they were last seen and what they were wearing it will help us.

"We want to work out the time gaps between when they went missing and when their bodies were found."

Police have already retraced the movements of Anneli Alderton who was last seen on CCTV footage taking a train from Harwich to Manningtree at around 6:15pm on December 3. Putting together witness statements and further CCTV footage they now believe that Ms Alderton, 24, who was three months pregnant, then caught a train from Manningtree to Ipswich when she could have then headed towards the red light district.

On Saturday, officers also questioned more than 400 motorists and pedestrians in Ipswich's red light area, where Ms Clennell was last seen on December 9 Ms Nicholls, 29, was also last seen in that area on December 5.

Last sightings

Police have released full descriptions of what each woman was wearing the last time she was seen:

Tania Nicol was seen on CCTV at 11.02pm on Oct 30 on London Road. She had a light-coloured top, cut-off jeans and sparkly pink high heels. Her body was found in Copdock on December 8.

Gemma Adams was last seen in West End Road in the early hours of November 15 wearing a black hooded jacket, light blue jeans and Nike trainers and carrying a black bag. Her body was found at Hintlesham, December 2.

Anneli Alderton was at Manningtree railway station on December 3 at 6-7pm. She was wearing a black jacket with fur-trimmed hood, a white top and blue jeans and had a shiny nylon shoulder bag. Her body was found at Nacton on December 10.

Annette Nicholls was last seen on December 5 at 9.50pm on Norwich Road. She was in grey patterned leggings, calf-length boots, a black top and dark bomber jacket. Her body was found in Levington on December 12.

Paula Clennell was last seen on December 10 at 12.20am on Handford Road. She was wearing a navy blue anorak, grey, hooded top, jeans and Reebok trainers. Her body was found near Levington on December 12.

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