Police begin dig in hunt for missing boys

Police investigating the disappearance of two young Birmingham boys 10 years ago are beginning to unearth land near where the pair vanished in Chelmsley Wood in the Uk's West Midlands.

David Spencer (aged 13), and Patrick Warren (aged 11), went missing from their homes on Boxing Day in 1996.

Diggers are being drafted in to search the area of land as part of Operation Stenley.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said the force's Operations Support Unit would be carrying out the search, which will also include sieving the area.

The boys vanished after going out on a bicycle one of the boys had received as a Christmas present. Their bodies have never been found.

Detectives announced earlier this month that they were questioning a convicted paedophile and murderer about their disappearance.

Brian Field, a farm labourer who was living in the Chelmsley Wood area around the time boys went missing, is serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old boy.

The 70-year-old inmate was brought to Birmingham for questioning from Full Sutton Prison in York at the beginning of the month.

On Monday, the boys' families made a fresh appeal for anyone who knows what happened to them to come forward.

In statements released through West Midlands Police, the boys' families said they needed to know what had happened to the youngsters so they could get on with their lives.