Counselling for traumatised town

Dozens of calls have been made to a special helpline set up for school pupils in Soham.

Children and parents struggling to cope with the emotional anguish caused by the deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman have been receiving counselling.

Children as young as 10 - the same age as the schoolgirls - are calling a specially set up helpline to talk about their shock, pain and fears for the future.

Many parents have called to ask how they can talk to their children about the deaths, while youngsters have told counsellors the killings have left them feeling terrified and confused about who they can trust.

The helplines are primarily aimed at people in Holly and Jessica's home town of Soham, Cambridgeshire, but have also been receiving calls from around the world, including one from Australia. They were opened at 8am today and had taken around 70 calls by 3pm.

They are staffed by Cambridgeshire County Council social workers, many with counselling qualifications, who work in three-hour shifts because of the emotional strain involved in taking the calls.

Team leader Jenny Pardoe said: "Children are saying they feel very frightened and don't know who they can trust, and a lot of parents are asking how they can talk to their children about what has happened.

"People are asking 'why me?', 'why us?', 'why here?' and there's a lot of anger, and we are telling them that is OK, because anger is a big part of grief and shock.

"Some are finding it very hard to talk and just hang up immediately, and some find it helpful to talk to a stranger rather than someone they know.

"Others are saying it has triggered a memory of something similar which has happened to them, bringing back a lot of emotions."