Police investigating the discovery of a body in a bin on an industrial estate in Southampton have made a fourth arrest.

A 31-year-old man was arrested shortly after 10pm last night on suspicion of murder. He was taken to a police station in Hampshire for questioning.

A 28-year-old man, a 25-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were also arrested on suspicion of murder earlier on Sunday. They remain in custody at police stations across Hampshire.

All four suspects are from the Southampton area.

Police were called at about 3.10am on Sunday when firefighters found a body while tackling a bin fire on the Empress Road industrial estate.

Detective Inspector Simon Baker from Hampshire Major Crimes Investigation team said: “I would like to thank members of the public who have helped us with our enquiries so far.

“We are now working on a theory that the victim was murdered sometime earlier at an address in the Bevois Mews and Earls Road area of Southampton, and moved to the industrial estate, possibly in a wheelie bin.

He added: “The exact route is not known at this stage so our latest appeal is focused on encouraging witnesses to come forward if they noticed any people pushing a wheelie bin in the area of Bevois Mews and Earls Road through to the area of Empress Road Industrial Estate near to Thomas Lewis Way late on Saturday night or early on Sunday morning.

“We would also want to hear from members of the public who may have seen wheelie bins being loaded into a vehicle late on Saturday or early on Sunday morning.”

Police want to hear from anyone who witnessed people behaving suspiciously in the local area at the time.

A post-mortem examination is continuing to establish the gender and identity of the body, and the cause of death.

The results are not expected to be known today due to the condition of the body after it was affected by fire.

A dedicated team of officers are conducting further searches and a forensic examination of an address in the Bevois Mews and Earls Road area, and at the scene where the body was found on the Empress Road Industrial Estate.

Routine house-to-house and CCTV enquiries are also underway in the local community.

Anyone with information should contact police on 101, quoting Operation Waterloo, or by calling Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.