Floral tributes and a media scrum

Scores of officers and journalists have decamped to Irvine Drive

Over the past five days a residential street in Kent has become a hive of police and media activity.

Scores of police officers and forensic scientists have decamped to Irvine Drive, Margate, where two bodies have been found.

Television and radio vehicles line the street - with news crews delivering live updates day and night.

This activity, in an otherwise quiet suburb, has been met with a mixture of excitement and sadness by residents.

Some have been truly affected by the discoveries but at least one person has seen it as an opportunity to make a quick buck - making the most of photographers needing access to the scene.

The flowers are standing here as a reminder that this is the site of a human tragedy Graham Cooke, BBC Radio Kent

BBC Radio Kent's Graham Cooke has been reporting from Irvine Drive since the search for Dinah McNicol began on Monday.

He describes the impact the two grisly finds have had on the local community.

From the ground level there is not that much for people to see. The BBC has a cherry picker where they have a camera looking at the scene because unless you can get up high you cannot see that much.

What I do know is that officers have been lifting the patio and working with structural engineers to break up the concrete floors inside to work on the fabric of the house in their search for human remains.

Changed the mood

And because it is difficult to see much from the ground level, one local lad is even offering photographers access to his bedroom, which overlooks the site, for a £10 a pop fee.

That is an example of the level of excitement that recent events have caused.

The search for further remains continues at the house in Margate

Some people living here obviously quite like the attention that their street is getting.

But there are others who are genuinely distressed by the events of this week - two people in particular, who have left floral tributes outside the building.

They placed bunches of geraniums and roses just outside the house in a section of grass specially roped off by police.

And the arrival of those two items have really changed the tone here.

They are standing as a reminder that this is the site of a human tragedy, that the remains of two people have been discovered in this street.

The search is now expected to continue into the weekend and when the ground work is finished today or tomorrow the scientists will go in with their various tests and equipment to see what traces and forensics evidence they can find.

When the police and the media have moved on it is likely that it will take a long, long time for the community to come to terms with what has actually happened here.