The Bahamas government is offering a £60,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the serial killer believed to be responsible for the murder of British tourist Joanne Clarke.

Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham also announced that the small local police force has invited three former senior Scotland Yard detectives to help them track down the murderer.

A post mortem examination was due to be carried out today on the murdered 24-year-old, of Warwick Road, Banbury, who was found strangled on a beach on Paradise Island.

Today, the British High Commission appeared to have been successful in persuading the local hospital not to delay the post mortem examination. Pathologists had earlier said they had other commitments and it was a case of "first come, first served".

Superintendent Arnold Josey, of the Bahamian police, said: "An autopsy will be carried out on the body today."The tests were delayed because we had been expecting members of Miss Clarke's family to arrive from the UK to identify the body but we understand that will not now be happening."

He said Miss Clarke, who had been working at Neithrop Junior School, in Prescott Road, Banbury, since October 1997 as a special needs care assistant, would now be formally identified by a friend. Supt Josey added: "As far as the investigation is concerned, we have interviewed a number of people but as yet there are no suspects."

The discovery of a second body near that of Miss Clarke, believed to be that of American tourist Lori Fogleman, 32, who disappeared last month, has sparked fears that a serial killer is at large on the island.

A year ago teacher Carole Leach, 37, was found murdered with the blunt end of a machete on nearby island Eleuthera. Ms Leach came from Somerset but had lived on the island for seven years.

Mr Ingraham said three former Yard officers contracted to train Bahamian police were being drafted in to assist with the murder hunt. Two of the three officers were named as former Chief Superintendent John Lewis and Michael Colston.

The Bahamas police had also sought help from the FBI in America and expected Dr Cyril Wecht, a specialist forensic pathologist, to arrive from Pennsylvania later today.

Phil Culligan, British deputy high commissioner to the Bahamas, said he had Met officers working on the case and been assured that the matter was being treated with the utmost urgency.

He said: "I have called on the acting commissioner of police and received assurances that the inquiry was being pursued vigorously and I will continue to press for that."

Miss Clarke, who was on a three-week holiday with a friend who lived in Nassau, the Bahamian capital, was alone on Friday when she was apparently dragged away from the beach and strangled.

Extra police and private security guards were drafted onto the luxury island following the discovery of the two bodies.

Bahamas Minister for Tourism, Cornelius Smith, said police were doing everything they could to find the killer and maintain safety.

He said the murders were "quite out of the ordinary" on the islands, which have an extremely low crime rate.

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