Disturbed earth at children's home 'may be caused by TV show'

Disturbed earth in the grounds of a former children’s home could have been caused by the BBC’s filming of police drama 'Bergerac'.

During filming of the series, which used Haut de la Garenne as a police station, one of the fields adjacent to the building was dug up to create a fake graveyard.

Police said this could be why, when they started the excavation last month and used a radar to search for suspicious disturbed earth, it gave them a number of hotspot readings.

A spokesman for Jersey Police said officers have known since the start of the inquiry that it was a possible explanation but said they have also got witness accounts that remains could be buried in a field.

He said: “We were aware that one of the fields was used for filming the programme. But that is not to say that the locations that have been highlighted are just because of the filming.

“The survey team were aware of the situation when they started and we are also acting on human intelligence.”

Police are working at seven sites at the former home and the spokesman said that filming has not affected the hotspots identified within the building.

Those hotspots inside Haut de la Garenne have led police to the remains of a child and a network of secret underground chambers where victims say they were abused.

The excavation in a field at the back of the building has uncovered a number of animal bones but no human remains.

The BBC used Haut de la Garenne as the headquarters of the island’s police to film location scenes for 'Bergerac'.

The drama, staring John Nettles as Jim Bergerac, ran for 84 episodes between 1981 and 1991.