French police detained a couple after the bodies of eight new-born babies were found in a house and in the garden of another home in a northern village, officials said on Wednesday.

Police with sniffer dogs were continuing their search in Villers-au-Tertre after arresting the pair, both in their 40s, Tuesday. Neighbours said the new owners of a house in the village had called the police after they found the bones of infants in the garden of their new home.