Police were today (Thursday) continuing to question a man in connection with the murder of two men in Beck Row near Mildenhall.

Officers were called to Willow Park traveller site at 10.15pm on Tuesday after a member of the public heard gunshots.

The bodies of two men, one at the entrance to the site and the other in the passenger seat of a burning car, were found by officers. Both had suffered gunshot wounds.

A 38-year-old man from the Mildenhall area was arrested later that day and continues to be questioned at a police station in Suffolk.

Post-mortem examination results are expected later today.

Meanwhile people living near the scene of the shootings voiced their horror at what had happened. The double killing is the latest in a string of incidents to have happened at Willow Park, the entrance to which sits in the middle of a quite residential area.

Neighbours include the elderly and service personnel from the nearby American airbase at RAF Lakenheath.

Many of those approached outside the entrance to the legal Irish traveller camp were too afraid to be identified.

One told how she was shocked by what had happened and told how she saw flames rising high into the sky.

Another said recent events connected with the traveller site had made her want to leave Beck Row for good.

'It is terrible,' she said. 'You just don't know what it is going to be next.'

Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, Chief Supt Stewart Gull said he believed the murders were connected to an armed incident at the site about four weeks ago.

'This is a complex inquiry and it is fast moving,' he said. 'We very much believe this incident is related to an ongoing dispute. There was an earlier incident on February 17 in which a number of arrests were made.'

Condemning the murders, prime minister David Cameron said it was a 'dreadful crime' and reassured MPs police would do 'everything they can' to bring the killers to justice.

West Suffolk MP Matthew Hancock asked Mr Cameron about the killings during Prime Minister's Question Time.

He said later: 'Everyone will be shocked and deeply worried by these appalling and violent murders in Beck Row. I am reassured that the crimes will be fully investigated and everything will be done to ensure that the killers are pursued with the full force of the law and brought to justice.'

The three hectare field, owned by 12 families, won retrospective planning permission in 2006 – five years after they moved in – and has a history of violence.

Most recently, cars have been torched and five men were arrested about a month ago when shots were reported. Before that, armed police were sent to the site in 2007 when after gunshots were reported.

In 2000, traveller Michael Smith was shot and his body found just yards from the site where he lived.

Firefighters were called again on Tuesday when a car being transported from the site by police on the back of a lorry by police caught fire.

Extra police patrols are ongoing in the area and anyone with information is asked to contact Suffolk Police on 01473 613500.