PRAYERS will be said tonight for the family of Karl Bluestone, the Kent police officer who killed his wife and two of their four children before hanging himself.

The service will be held at the Methodist Church in Milton Road, Gravesend, close to Gravesend Police Station where PC Bluestone was based.

The prayer meeting will begin at 8pm. The Rev David Blacklock and Robert Tan, an exchange minister from Australia, will lead the service.

The Rev Blacklock said: "It will be something small for the family involved in the situation and not a service as such.

"It came to me in the early hours of the morning, and the details have been passed on to the church members."

Police colleagues of PC Bluestone have also been invited to attend.

The church was the venue for the baptism of Jack, Jessica, Henry and Chandler - Karl and Jill Bluestone's children.

They also sent their four children to the church for Sunday school.

The Rev Andrew Lindley, the minister of the methodist church, returns from an exchange trip in Australia this weekend.