It is believed that Brady has recently given a location to his mental health visitor, Jackie Powell, who has now been arrested accused on preventing the rightful burial of a body.

Brady, along with his partner Myra Hindley, was found guilty of murdering five children in 1966, before burying them in various places on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester. The children had all been kidnapped and tortured before their lives were taken.

The pair were given life sentences for the murders of Lesley Ann Downey, 10, John Kilbride, 12, and Edward Evans, 17. Hindley died in prison aged 60 in 2002, while Brady has spent the last 25 years in Ashworth Hospital.

Across the years, Brady has revealed the location of all the bodies apart from Bennett’s, who was abducted on the way to visit his grandmother on June 16th 1964. Although nothing is yet confirmed, police are hoping that this is the breakthrough.

In a statement, Greater Manchester police said, “On 30 July 2012, Greater Manchester Police received information that led officers to believe that Ian Brady had recently given details of the location of Keith Bennett's body to one of his long-term visitors."

Martin Bottomley, from Greater Manchester Police's Major and Cold Case Crime Unit added, "I want to be explicitly clear about this: Ian Brady has not revealed to police the location of Keith's body. What we are looking at is the possibility, and at this stage it is only a possibility, that he has written a letter to Keith's mum Winnie Johnson which was not to be opened until after his death.

"We do not know if this is true or simply a ruse but we clearly have a duty to investigate such information on behalf of Keith's family."