by Thom Morris

tmorris@thekmgroup.co.uk

This dramatic picture shows where police dug up the body of a man buried in a field outside Ashford.

The human remains were exhumed from farmland at Partridge Wood near Brabourne by Metropolitan Police officers as part of a murder investigation.

Officers and forensic teams from the capital descended on Kingsmill Down near the village last Friday afternoon, where they discovered the remains of a 60-year-old man thought to have been buried at the site up to six years ago.

It is believed the police were alerted to the burial site by a man who has now been arrested.

Following a postmortem, the body was identified as Lee Clement, of no fixed address, who was born in September 1950.

The cause of death couldn't be established, but Mr Clement's family have been informed.

A murder inquiry was launched after the Met arrested a 30-year-old man from London on suspicion of murder on March 8.

The man, also homeless, has been released on bail until March 25 pending further inquiries.

Shocked villagers had no idea of the gruesome find until officers drove along the quiet lanes around the village.

The unmarked forensic vans were spotted by Brabourne Lees resident Liz Garnett as she was driving home, and she took this photograph from the roadside.

The professional photographer said: "No one seems to know exactly what is going on.

"I just saw lots of police vans and white vans up on Kingsmill Down on the school run in the afternoon."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said inquiries into the death were continuing.