Detectives have closed a park in Rush Green following reports that a human leg was found in a lake.

It is thought a member of the public made the gruesome find at The Chase - a nature reserve on the Havering and Barking and Dagenham border - yesterday.

According to residents police placed a cordon on the area overnight while frogmen carried out searches of the water.

Twitter users have taken to the site to express their horror.

Gemma @shineshower wrote: “OMG cannot believe the chase is shut because a human leg has been found!!”

Barking and Dagenham Police last week opened a murder investigation following the disappearance of Neill Buchel.

Mr Buchel, 39, went missing from Braintree Road on March 13, less than two miles from The Chase. .

He had been involved in an earlier altercation, police said.

Although Mr Buchel has not been found, Det Ch Insp Chris Jones said he believed he had come to “significant harm”.

It is the second time this week dismembered human remains have been found.

An arm and hand was picked up by a dog close to a Dorset golf club on Monday.

The animal had brought the parts to its owner from a wooded area near the Meyrick Park Golf Club, in Bournemouth.

If was followed by the discovery of more decomposed body parts in a “hard to reach location” up a tree near the course yesterday.

Three men arrested on suspicion of murdering Mr Buchel have been bailed to a date in late April.

Did you see police at The Chase? Get in touch with Jane Ball on 020 8477 3878 or by email on jane.ball@archant.co.uk