Two bodies were finally removed from Abbot?s Cliff as darkness began to fall last night after a frustrating fight to reach them.

However the pair have still yet to be identified as the Cooper twins who have been missing for over a month.

Foul play is feared following blood spills found at a Devonshire address where the 20-year-olds were believed to have been assaulted.

Police were refusing to comment at the scene last night as the pair were whisked away to the mortuary in strict secrecy.

It had taken more than 30 hours to reach them after they were first spotted on Wednesday lunchtime at the Hamilton parish tourists spot after neighbours alerted Police because of the smell.

The bodies, half way down a sheer cliff face covered with shrubbery, could not be reached by foot while cranes were ruled out after consultants arrived from Island Construction to assess the scene.

Abseiling experts were then drafted in and by lunchtime one of them had reached the scene, which was shrouded in undergrowth.

Further assessments were made as a stream of Police officers visited the scene and another route was then spotted.

Midway through the afternoon fire crews arrived with ladders and white-overall wearing members of the Police forensic unit were seen scaling the steep cliff.

Overseas forensic expert Dr. Valerie Rao was also at the scene. However the wait proved frustrating to relatives of the Cooper twins who arrived and voiced their anger before departing.

The bodies were finally brought away from the scene at 7.30 last night and rushed to the morgue where they were placed under guard.

A police spokesman said the bodies had not yet been identified. He said: ?We are awaiting additional forensic tests.?

One woman, who has lived in the area for a year and a half, said: ?This is normally a quiet neighbourhood, we love it, but I have noticed increased activity with people driving up and down in the last month.

?I thought maybe there was a drug deposit in the corner somewhere.?

The woman, who declined to give her name, said: ?We had a picnic at the cliffs the other week and the smell was awful.

?I thought maybe an animal had died. We didn?t report it and now I feel really bad.?

Another neighbour said: ?This is sick, it has to stop. Children could go down there and see that.?

Chief Inspector Andrew Boyce refused to give details on the state of the bodies and the precise spot where they were found although Police had earlier said they were in one piece, with one in an advanced state of decomposition.