POLICE have been searching for a handbag and personal items that belonged to Sian O’Callaghan, who was murdered in March 2011.

For the last two days, a search team has been working in a field between the villages of Bourton and Bishopstone, about six miles east of Swindon, and just west of the border with Oxfordshire.

After receiving information that the items of property might be in the area, the specially trained search team were conducting fingertip searches the field in the hope of finding Sian’s handbag, phone or keys.

Yesterday an item was found in a ditch at the edge of the field but officers are not yet able to determine whether this item belongs to Sian and it has been removed for forensic analysis.

Searches have concluded in this area at this time.

Sian, aged 22, from Swindon was abducted and brutally murdered in March 2011.

On 19 March 2011, shortly after Sian left a local nightclub Christopher Halliwell, a taxi driver, abducted Sian and drove her out of Swindon to a location in which he killed her. Sian was reported missing and a major investigation was launched into her disappearance. Through ANPR and CCTV analysis officers were able to identify Halliwell’s vehicle, following detailed enquiries he was subsequently arrested. Sian’s body was located and Halliwell was charged with her murder. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Despite appeals at the time of her death, Sian's  handbag, mobile phone, and keys have never been found.

Detective Chief Inspector Sean Memory from the Major Crime Investigation Team said: “We continue to be in close contact with Sian’s family and they have always wanted to know what happened to her belongings.

Due to new information we have been searching in this area for the remaining items that are missing and should we find them, we shall be returning them to the family as soon as possible.”