Four arrested and pond dredged in hunt for farmer

DETECTIVES searching for a wealthy farmer who has been missing for more than three months have arrested four people on suspicion of murder and have begun dredging a pond close to his home.

William “Bill” Taylor disappeared from his £1.2 million home in Gosmore, Herts, on June 3, just days before his 70th birthday.

Initially it was feared Mr Taylor might have collapsed while working in one of his fields, but searches of the surrounding land failed to find any clues.

Yesterday, police divers began examining a pond close to a property on Mr Taylor’s land and arrested three men aged 18, 22 and 53, as well as a 52-yearold woman.

All four, who are from the Hitchin area, were arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to murder.

Days before Mr Taylor went missing, the twice-married pensioner’s Land Rover Defender was set alight outside his farmhouse in a suspected arson attack.