French police have arrested a husband and wife after the bodies of eight newborn babies were found in a house and in the garden of another home in a northern village.
Police with sniffer dogs are continuing their search in Villers-au-Tertre after arresting the pair, who are both in their 40s.
Public prosecutor Eric Vaillant said: 'Two people are being held in custody. They are the mother and father of the children.'
Neighbours said the new owners of a house in the village had called the police after they found the bones of infants in the garden of their new home.
Police inquiries led to another house in the village around 1km away where more babies' bodies were found.
The prosecutors' office in the nearby city of Douai is to open a judicial inquiry, which is expected to lead in turn to the couple being charged, a judicial source said.
