Jersey's police chief was suspended yesterday after two senior officers reported there was no evidence to back up claims of murder at a former children's home and said that suspicious fragments of bone could have dated from the 15th century.

Graham Power, Chief Officer of the States of Jersey Police, has been relieved of his duties pending an inquiry into his role in the £4m investigation into events at the Haut de la Garenne hostel, sources on the island said.

Mr Power, the former Deputy Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders, was suspended following the revelation that there was no evidence of murder at the children's home.

Mr Power's former deputy, Lenny Harper, who is now living in Ayrshire, came under serious criticism from the two officers who took over the investigation after his retirement in August.

Mr Harper's successor, David Warcup, ruled out any suggestion of murder at the home, where it had been thought children might have been murdered and dismembered.

"There is no suggestion there has been murder or any bodies destroyed," Mr Warcup said. "It is very unfortunate and I have much regret that information has been given by police that was not strictly accurate."

Both Mr Power and his former deputy Mr Harper denied any wrongdoing throughout their investigation.

Mr Power, whose career began with Middlesbrough Police in 1966, accused Northern Constabulary Police Board in 1996 of failing to shortlist him for the chief constable's job because he was English. He took the board to an industrial tribunal for racial discrimination, backed by the Commission for Racial Equality, before reaching an out-of-court settlement.

Mr Warcup's comments sparked a political row on the island, with Deputy Andrew Lewis, home affairs minister, attacking officers' conduct as he confirmed Mr Power was suspended. He announced an independent investigation'.