West Midlands Police will investigate claims that Cambridgeshire Police were told of suspicions about two of their officers before they became involved in the inquiry into the deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Brian Stevens, a family liaison officer, and Antony Goodridge, an exhibits officer, have both now been charged with child pornography offences after Cambridgeshire Police asked the West Midlands force to examine allegations last week.

However, reports suggest their names were on a list of people circulated to Cambridgeshire Police on 5 July - almost a month before the two 10-year-old girls went missing.

The news comes on the same day two officers from Sussex Police are to begin reviewing the exhibits process of the Cambridgeshire police inquiry into the deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Extra procedure

In a statement, West Midlands Police said: "The terms of reference agreed with the Police Complaints Authority have now been extended to examine whether Cambridgeshire Constabulary had any knowledge of any possible offences by any officer prior to their involvement in the Soham inquiry."

Meanwhile, the review of the exhibits process by Sussex Police is due to begin at Cambridgeshire Police Headquarters.

A spokeswoman for the Cambridgeshire force said: "While we are confident of the work carried out to date we asked for an independent review as an extra procedure to ensure the integrity of Operation Fincham."

It is not known how long the review will take.

Global operation

PC Goodridge, 34, and Detective Constable Brian Stevens, 41, were granted bail on Monday after a hearing behind closed doors at Ipswich Crown Court.

They were arrested on Thursday morning by detectives participating in Operation Ore, the UK arm of a global FBI-led operation codenamed Operation Candyman.

Mr Goodridge has been charged with two counts of making indecent images, one of inciting distribution and a further charge of possessing such an image.

Mr Stevens faces two charges of making an indecent image of a child under the age of 16, and one offence of inciting the distribution of such an image.