Detectives say the murders of two young women 21 years ago are still priority for them.

A new team formed in April this year, led by Det Ch Insp David Withers from Kent Police’s major crime department, is investigating the cases of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce who were murdered in Tunbridge Wells in 1987.

The team re-investigates unsolved murders and stranger rapes from the 1960s onwards, using the latest forensic techniques around DNA, and works alongside the serious case review team.

Miss Knell was murdered in her bedsit in Guildford Road on Tuesday, June 23, 1987. She had been sexually assaulted.

Caroline Pierce, 20, who lived in a bedsit in Grosvenor Park, was last seen at about midnight on November 24 when she was dropped off by a taxi at her home.

Miss Pierce was attacked outside her home. She too was sexually assaulted.

Her body was found 40 miles away in a field near St Mary in the Marsh, Romney Marsh, on December 15, 1987.

Both women had been battered and strangled. Both lived alone in basement bedsit flats, both had jobs in Camden Road, Tunbridge Wells, and both were brunettes.

DNA found at Miss Knell’s bedsit does not match that of anyone on the national database, so the team is working with the forensic science service to try to discover whom the DNA comes from.

Det Ch Insp Withers said: “Even though 21 years have passed we are determined to use the latest technology and scientific techniques to give us the best opportunity of identifying the offender."

Anyone with information should contact the Kent Police major crime department on 01622 654860 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.