Eddie, a seven-year-old springer spaniel, led police to a child's skeleton at Haut de la Garenne in Jersey.

The youth hostel, which used be a care home for children with behavioural problems, is at the centre of a major abuse allegation.

Eddie's super-sensitive nose, which is especially trained to locate and unearth corpses, helped police recover the body through several inches of concrete in a ground floor corridor.

The dog also indicated seven other hotspots in a bricked-up cellar and the police are not ruling out finding more bodies.

Eddie came to national attention last year when he and former kennel-mate Keela were drafted to Portugal to help with the search for missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann.

Keela, a "blood dog" is believed to have detected tiny specks of blood found in the McCann's Algarve apartment, while Eddie is said to have picked up traces of the missing girl in the back of Kate and Gerry McCann's hire car.

Both Eddie and Keela left the South Yorkshire Police dog unit last year when their Doncaster handler, PC Martin Grime retired.

The dogs are expected to remain in Jersey for at least another week as excavations at the building continue.

Former care home staff have been arrested on suspicion of paedophile crimes.