Experts say that the murders of the Ipswich prostitutes were almost certainly the work of a serial killer.

Experts said last night that the murders of the Ipswich prostitutes were almost certainly the work of a serial killer.

David Canter, a professor of investigative psychology at Liverpool University, said: “It's so unusual to find naked bodies in England. It suggests the young women victims who have been killed have no obvious relation-ship to the offender Finding so many, so close together, it has to be the same offender who is killing all these women.”

Tony Rogers, former chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers homicide working group, said: “The detectives will be looking at what their databases are saying. They will be looking for people with any precursor offences, such as exposure or indecency, as those who commit those sort of crimes first often go on to commit crimes featuring violence against women.”

And the former commander of the Liverpool serious crime squad, Albert Kirby, said: “Police will be looking for someone who lives in that area and has the knowledge to commit a murder. They will be asking what kind of pervert can do this: can take a girl, strip her, murder her and then dump her body.

“The police will be looking to get the confidence of girls who work this area because they will know the clients that come here. They need to know from the girls about the men that they think: 'I will not go with that man because I don't trust him.'”