The number of police on the beat in Soham is to be doubled after the deaths of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

One extra officer has already joined the town's two beat bobbies. A fourth will start next week.

Cambridgeshire Police said the extra officers should ease people's fears since the deaths of the 10-year-old best friends.

A small police station will also be opened in the town where the officers will be based.

Policing 'reassurance'

Soham's 24-hour station closed two years ago because it was not cost effective.

The new one is likely to be based at the town's Weatheralls Health Centre and will be open during office hours.

Inspector Simon Causer said: "Following what has happened in the town, we want to give people the reassurance that the policing is there.

"The office will be set up sooner rather than later."

Holly and Jessica, who both lived in Soham, vanished on Sunday 4 August. Their bodies were found on 17 August.

Up to 2,000 people packed Ely Cathedral for the service of celebration and remembrance for the girls last Friday, two days before Jessica's 11th birthday.

Former Soham Village College caretaker Ian Huntley, 28, has been charged with the girls' murders and is being held at a high security hospital under the Mental Health Act.

His partner, Maxine Carr, 25, a former teaching assistant in Holly and Jessica's class, has been accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice.