German born Peter Wallner, 33 and Maltese national Lilia Fenech, 23, who are sought by the police following the gruesome discovery of a woman’s body inside a wheelie bin, voluntarily contacted the British police from Malta.

Both Mr Wallner and Ms Fenech are being considered as prime suspects in the murder case of the woman who is believed to be in her thirties. English newspaper The Sun reported that it is not believed that Lilia Fenech, who worked with Wallner in a hotel, is returning to the UK with him. They also stressed that Mr Wallner is at this stage being sought to ‘help the police with their inquiries’.

The decomposed body of the woman dumped in the wheelie bin was left in front of a house in Hamilton Avenue in Cobham, Surrey, UK which used to be rented by the couple. The body was discovered after a woman reported that a human foot was sticking out of the bin. Dustmen had refused to carry it as it was too heavy. The dead woman has not been identified yet.

According to a British newspaper, Police said Mr Wallner contacted officers yesterday and was planning to return to the UK as soon as possible. It seems that he contacted the British police before his rented Volkswagen crafter van with registration number RV58 YDX, hired from a rental company in Surrey was discovered in San Gwann two days ago.

The man left the UK in the company of Ms Fenech three weeks ago around the same time the body was stuffed inside the bin to be discovered three weeks later. The British police said he was staying with Ms Fenech and her family in Malta when he realised that the police are searching him.

British authorities appreciated the assistance of the media and the public in helping to locate Mr Wallner. UK police asked the public to respect the privacy of Mr Wallner, Ms Fenech and her family

In the mean time the owner of Parkhurst self drive, the Surrey car rental, which rented the van to the couple, said he had rented it just for a week. The van was found legally parked in San Gwann with a biscuit tin and a purple towel inside. The van could easily be noticed, as it was rather big and sported the name of the rental company in large print on its side.

The vehicle was spotted on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras on the M25 in Kent and close to the docks at Dover on the evening of 17 May with two people inside. Police reported Wallner buying two tickets for a cross-channel ferry the same evening.

The company hopes that the vehicle can be retrieved from Malta.