A BLUE and white tent was this morning covering the emptied grave of the prime suspect in the rape and murder of Teresa De Simone.

A mound of earth, which had been dug up to access the man's coffin is lying alongside in Kingston Cemetery at the junction Glencoe Road in Portsmouth.

Police were standing guard at all entrances to the old graveyards which dates back to the 1800s.

Residents have been watching on bewildered, peering out of the upstairs windows of their homes wondering why a huge police presence and growing media pack have descended on their doorstep.

In the centre of the cemetery detectives leading the enquiry have gathered with other representatives from local authorities including environmental health teams to protect public health during the exhumation.

The head stones around the surrounding graves have also been covered with brown sacks, hiding any names and the immediate area around the suspect's grave has been cordoned off by police tape.

The dug-up grave is in a corner of the large cemetery, which is one of three council-owned cemeteries in the city.