BRITAIN:Police hunting for the prime suspect in two brutal double murders said yesterday they have had sightings of Mark Hobson in virtually every police force area in Britain.
North Yorkshire Deputy Chief Constable Roger Baker said there had been 175 sightings reported to officers today alone of the 34-year-old former bin man.
Mr Hobson is wanted for questioning in connection with the murders of his girlfriend Claire Sanderson and her twin sister Diane as well as the killings of pensioners James and Joan Britton at the weekend.
Mr Baker said sightings had come in from as far away as New Zealand but as yet none of the hundreds they have received had been conclusively proved to be positive since Mr Hobson was spotted near York early on Sunday morning.
Mr Baker said: "Most forces in the country have had reports of sightings but there have clearly been more in the North Yorkshire area than anywhere else." He said up to 300 police officers were working on the inquiry, including 220 in North Yorkshire alone.
Mr Baker said officers from eight other police forces were operating in the county and he praised the co-operation of constabularies from around the country.
He said so many North Yorkshire Police officers were involved in the inquiry he was using police from outside the county to deal with other matters, but assured the public that the massive manhunt would not interfere with regular police operations.
The police said there were no obvious signs of a forced entry at the Brittons' house and confirmed the door was unlocked when his officers first arrived at the scene.
But Mr Baker said he could not conclude at this stage that the elderly couple had let their killer in through the front door. Mr Baker said the cause of death for Mrs Britton has still not been established and although a number of weapons had been taken away he still could not positively identify the murder weapon.
He said the cause of death of Claire Sanderson had also not yet been conclusively established.