THE tragedy that has engulfed the Cambridgeshire town of Soham has touched the hearts of the nation.

Whatever the circumstances of the deaths of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman - which, of course, it is for the courts to decide - towns and villages across Brit-ain have shared in the grief.

Take, as a testament to that, the books of condolence that have been opened across Worcestershire.

It's usual for such means of paying respects to the dead to be made available in the cases of the great and the good.

The deaths of the Queen Mother and - memorably - the Princess of Wales, were marked by a public outpouring of grief not seen since Sir Winston Churchill's 1965 funeral.

But it's difficult to recall, in recent years, a situation in which the deaths of "ordinary people" have been marked in this extraordinary way.

It is, clearly, a reflection of the concern that every parent has for the safety of their children, that every community has for its most vulnerable members.

At such an emotional time, it's worth taking a moment to reflect on the words of the Dean of Worcester, the Very Rev Peter Marshall.

"Our condolences show the good of the love which comforts those who are immediately caught in the horror that affects us all," he says.

For that reason, adding our names to a book of condolence should be something that we're all prepared to do.