A post-mortem examination has given the cause of Sarah Everard's death as compression of the neck, the Metropolitan Police said.

The 33-year-old's body was found in a Kent woodland on March 10, ending a widely publicised search following her disappearance a week before.

Police constable Wayne Couzens, 48, is charged with kidnapping and killing Ms Everard, who went missing while walking home from a friend’s flat in Clapham.

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The Metropolitan Police said: “A post-mortem examination into the death of Sarah Everard held at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford has given cause of death as compression of the neck.

“Sarah’s family have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.”

Detectives attempting to establish the cause of death held an initial post-mortem on March 17, but the examination proved 'inconclusive'.

This led to a second post-mortem examination, this time independent from police, being carried out on Ms Everard's body, by senior coroner Patricia Harding.

On March 24, Metropolitan Police confirmed that a cause of death had still not yet been established.

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A provisional date has been set for Couzens’ trial at the Old Bailey for October 25, with a plea hearing on July 9.

A woman in her 30s, who was arrested at the same time as Couzens, on suspicion of assisting an offender, was released on bail to return to a police station on a date in mid-April.

She has been further bailed to return on a date in early June.