THE murder investigation into the death of nightclubber Sian O’Callaghan moved to another area of Oxfordshire in a dramatic twist today.

Police confirmed a body recovered in a remote countryside ditch near Uffington was that of the missing 22-year-old from Swindon.

Their investigation then moved to fields between the Cotswold Wildlife Park and Eastleach on the Oxfordshire-Gloucestershire border, where they were tonight still searching for a second body.

Villagers in the Uffington area said their feelings about the picturesque landscape of White Horse Hill would not be the same following the grim discovery.

Jim Aldridge, of Hill View in Kingston Lisle, said: “We feel shocked, as it's on our doorstep.”

The 63-year-old was born in Uffington and has lived in Kingston Lisle for 23 years.

His wife Linda said: “It’s horrendous. You always view White Horse Hill as mystical and magical.

“We will look at that hill and view it differently for quite a while. It is so sad.”

Ian Ballard, 37, of Patricks Orchard, Uffington, said: “I like walking round the White Horse because it’s nice up there.

“But when I look at it now it will be a constant reminder.”

Angus Tucker, landlord at the Blowing Stone pub in Kingston Lisle, said: “It’s dreadful. It’s unsettling that something so horrific could have happened while life has been going on here.”

Don Walker, 84, of Patricks Orchard, was a police sergeant in Wantage for about 20 years.

He said: “It will be forensic stuff – that is why they are keeping everybody away.

“It’s probably the biggest crime to happen here. I don’t remember anything of this type around here.”

And a dog walker from Uffington-based Walkies and Whiskers said: “It’s not a nice feeling at all. It’s a common route, I do it twice a week. It’s a lovely area to walk. But I will probably avoid walking that way for a while."

The Rev Alan Wadge, whose parish includes St John the Baptist Church in Kingston Lisle, said: “This is a difficult time for the communities here. Sian will be remembered in the prayers of all the Ridgeway parishes this weekend, as all the departed are.”

Police revealed this morning that officers had started searching the Eastleach site last night after they were given two different locations by the suspect.

A 47-year-old man, named locally as Christopher Halliwell from Swindon, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of kidnapping and two murders.

Police were this afternoon granted an extra 24 hours to question him.

Villager Richard O’Brien, 64, said the police search of Eastleach was shocking.

He added his daughter had met the suspect at a wedding last summer in Swindon.

A 54-year-old man from nearby Fairford, who did not want to be named, said the news had come as a complete shock.

He added: “Not much happens here – it’s a quiet Cotswold village.”

A Burford resident in her 70s, who did not want to be named, said the news was horrific.

Tonight Thames Valley Police said it would not comment on whether its officers were involved in the investigation.

Spokesman Chris Kearney confirmed that, apart from a number of asylum seekers and a man missing in the Himalayas, the force had no outstanding missing persons cases.