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A helpline staffed by social workers and educational psychologists has been set up by Cambridgeshire council to deal with calls from distressed parents following the deaths of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, writes Sally Gillen.

The group of 15 professionals are working shifts offering counselling to parents and teachers on how to cope with the shock of the deaths, and giving advice on how to break the news to their own children.

The counselling service, which was set up the day after the bodies of the 10-year-olds were discovered by ramblers, dealt with more than 100 calls on its first morning.

A spokesperson for the council said the helpline would continue for as long as necessary.

He added that like many local authorities around the country Cambridgeshire had high vacancy rates in its social services department, and having staff concentrating on the helpline had "inevitably been a strain".

But he said that neighbouring councils, such as Suffolk, had offered the services of their staff to relieve the pressure.

"The staff are doing a great job and we have been shown great support from nearby local authorities," he said.