Police are continuing to question the husband of a missing TV make-up artist following the discovery of a body in woodland near their East Sussex home.

David Chenery-Wickens, 51, is being questioned over the disappearance of his wife Diane, 48, in January.

A woman walking her dog found the human remains, concealed yards from Worth Lane, Little Horsted, near Uckfield.

Mrs Chenery-Wickens worked for more than 20 years on BBC shows including Casualty and the League of Gentlemen.

Won Emmy

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In 2003 she was nominated for a Bafta in the make-up and hair design category for her work on Dead Ringers, missing out to an artist from Little Britain.

Dead Ringers impressionist Jon Culshaw made a televised appeal for help in finding Mrs Chenery-Wickens days after she was reported missing by her husband on 24 January.

She is believed to have travelled to London for a meeting at the BBC, but never arrived.

Sussex Police said CCTV footage had failed to show any sign of her.

Mr Chenery-Wickens had previously been arrested on suspicion of her murder and had his police bail extended to 30 May pending further inquiries.

The family were told about the discovery of the body on Thursday, although inquiries continued to determine whether or not it was her and the cause of death.

Police said it may take some time for forensic and post-mortem examinations to be carried out on the body, which was found about eight miles from the couple's home in Duddleswell.

In the past few months, specialist search teams have examined sites based on "specific information" in the 6,500-acre Ashdown Forest in East Sussex.

Searches have also taken place at the couple's country home and surrounding woodland.

Police said the area where the body was found had not been searched before in connection with Mrs Chenery-Wickens' disappearance but had been considered for examination.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Johns, of Sussex Police's major crime branch, has appealed to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in and around the lane where the body was found to come forward.

(BBC)

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