A passerby asked "What's in here, bodies?" as she unknowingly helped two men carry suitcases full of human remains onto Clifton Suspension Bridge.

The remains were discovered on Wednesday evening after police were called to reports of a man with a suitcase acting suspiciously on the bridge in Bristol.

The suspect is thought to have travelled to Bristol from London earlier that day, the Metropolitan Police said.

A crime scene is in place at a location in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, and detectives from the Met are now leading the investigation.

Giles Malone told ITV News he had been waiting for an Uber near The Mall pub when he saw two men lifting suitcases across the road shortly after 10.30pm.

He said: "We were stood there waiting for our car and a man and another man got out of another car across the street and they were lifting these suitcases across the road for some reason, right by us. Another lady started to help them and the lady who was helping them said ‘These are the heaviest suitcases I’ve ever lifted – what’s in them, bodies?'

Malone, who lives in North Carolina but is in Bristol visiting his father, described the cases as "big" and "tatty." Another witness, University of Bristol student Reece Wright, told the BBC he had been walking near the bridge with his girlfriend on Wednesday evening.

He said: "As we were walking along and got towards the other end, we thought we could see blood on the pavement of the bridge As we kept walking further along, we went down and turned and heard a commotion behind us and we saw a cyclist chasing after a man who was just running away. He was making a lot of noise. They stopped and the guy managed to get away."

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The student said one of the suitcases, which was blue, had two wheels broken off and "red stuff which we now know to be blood leaking out of the side near the zip, it was quite graphic."

The victims have not yet been formally identified but both are believed to be adult men, with the results of one post-mortem examination "inconclusive", while a second post-mortem examination is ongoing.

This afternoon, a helicopter was circling above the crime scene in Scott’s Road on Friday afternoon in Shepherd’s Bush, as four police officers guarded tape which cordoned off an area of bins below a high-rise building.

Anthony Priest, 85, a resident of the Scott’s Road area said: "I heard them all tearing down here in the early hours of the morning. I heard a police car coming down, with lights flashing. It must have been about half past three."

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine, who is leading the investigation for the Met, said: "Over the last 48 hours we have been working extremely closely with colleagues from Avon and Somerset. This work leads us to believe the man we need to speak to travelled to Bristol from London earlier on Wednesday evening (10 July).

"We are drawing on resources from across the Met to find and apprehend the suspect and I would urge anyone who believes they see him, or who knows of his whereabouts, to call 999 straight away. Do not approach him.

"We recognise this has caused significant concern to residents in the Clifton area and will cause concern among those who live and work in West London.

"Extra officers will be on patrol in the area over the coming days and I would encourage anyone with any concerns to speak to them."