Detectives have arrested a man on suspicion of murder after dismembered body parts were found at a Salford nature reserve. The suspect, said to be a man in his 20s from the local area, was detained last night and will be questioned later today.

It comes after a member of the public found a human torso wrapped in plastic at Kersal Wetlands on Thursday afternoon. The victim has not yet been identified.

In a press conference on Sunday morning Chief Supt Tony Creely described the arrest as 'an important step' for the investigation. He added: "But we must keep an open mind.

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"A big part of this is speaking to anyone from the local community who may have useful information. Our main focus at this time is establishing who our victim is because at the heart of this investigation is a family somewhere who have lost a loved one."

On Sunday morning police divers were seen in the area. Chief Supt Creely said specialist police officers, including the dog unit, had searched 'every inch' of the nature reserve.

He added: "Although at this time we have not found anything else that is of interest to the investigation in the Kersal Wetlands area our work will not stop."

Police continue to search the area

And Chief Supt Creely appealed to the public to come forward with any information which may help the inquiry. He said: "We will pursue every single line of inquiry to help us find out what happened.

"I cannot stress the importance of people contacting us with information if they know anything at all. You may have information which you don't think is important, but if you could contact the police with any information whatsoever it could help the police progress this investigation."

The gruesome discovery was made on Thursday afternoon

Yesterday police said the remains belong to a man 'likely to be older than 40'. He had been deceased for a 'only matter of days' and 'could not have survived'.

Further enquiries – including DNA tests – are being carried out in a bid to identify the victim.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 and quoting log number 2695 of April 4, 2024.Details can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.