Police have released footage of the Gloucester basement where they are digging for human remains linked to serial killer Fred West.

Excavation work began yesterday at the Clean Plate cafe, Southgate Street, where police suspect missing teenager Mary Bastholm may be buried after a cadaver dog took interest in the flooring. 

It is thought that serial killer Fred West may have buried Mary there over 50 years ago, after she went missing from a bus stop in 1968.

Above: footage filmed by ITV shows chalk markings highlighting areas for surveying work.

Mary Bastholm worked at a sandwich shop, The Pop In, where The Clean Plate now stands, according to The Daily Mail Online.

Books by Brian Masters and Gordon Burn state West was a regular at the eatery and he carried out work on the building's drains – though Rose West’s solicitor Leo Goatley believes West may have been laying floor there.

The café is located just five minutes’ walk away from 25 Cromwell Street, the ‘house of horrors’ where Fred and Rose West buried nine of their victims.

Police would not rule out speaking to Rose West in prison about the fate of Mary.

When Mary disappeared, West was living with his first wife Rena at a caravan site in Bishop’s Cleeve, near Cheltenham – close to where a teenage Rose West was living with her parents.

Detective Chief Inspector John Turner said there was conflicting evidence during the original House of Horrors inquiry as to whether West had carried out renovation work at the Pop In cafe in 1968 or later, in 1976.

“Since then there has been a lot of rumour and folklore about Mary and Fred’s link with the cafe and the decision was made that there was insufficient evidence at the time to excavate the site,” Mr Turner said.

A white tent has been erected outside the Clean Plate as police search the building.