The remains of grandmother-of-four Marion Alder, 79, were removed from the graveyard of St Leonard's Church in the Somerset village of Butleigh at 5.30am on Wednesday.

Mrs Alder, a resident at the Parkfields home in the village, died in July last year.

A post mortem examination will now be carried out to see if she was poisoned.

The results are not expected back for a minimum of six to eight weeks.

It was the second exhumation in the area during the last two weeks.

Parkfields' former managers Rachel and Leigh Baker were originally arrested following the New Year's Day death of 97-year-old Lucy Cox and have been released on bail.

Speaking after the exhumation, Detective Inspector Ben Batley, deputy senior investigating officer, said: "The exhumation went as planned and we will now wait for the mortuary tests to be carried out before Mrs Alder is reburied.

"I would once again like to thank Mrs Alder's family for their co-operation and the residents of Butleigh for their understanding at what is obviously a difficult time for the village community.

"I would also ask that Mrs Alder's family continue to be given privacy by the media at this time."