Police hunting the killer of five prostitutes confirmed today that the fourth body was mother-of-three Paula Clennell.

Detectives had already said that it was natural to assume that it was Ms Clennell, 24, who was found naked in woods at Levington but she was not formally identified until this afternoon. She had been strangled.

Police believe the body of a second woman - lying around 150 yards away - is that of another missing prostitute Annette Nicholls, 29. She is not expected to be formally identified until tomorrow after a post mortem has been completed at Ipswich hospital.

Dr Nat Carey, the Home Office pathologist who also examined the bodies of the two victims of the 2002 Soham murders, is conducting all the post-mortems in the case.

Detectives said they had learned today that Ms Clennell was seen working as a prostitute in Ipswich in the early hours of Sunday morning. They said she was spotted at 12.20am in Handford Road - near where she lived.

A police spokeswoman said Miss Clennell was walking on a pavement and was wearing a navy blue anorak with a light blue band across the chest and down one arm, a grey hooded top, light jeans with patterns on a pocket, and Reebok Classic trainers, which were navy with a light blue and grey flash.

Days before she was reported missing, Ms Clennell said she was prepared to go back to the streets because she "needed the money".

The development came as detectives turned their attention to reports that one of the victims was last seen getting into a blue BMW with a "chubby" man and examined a jacket dragged from a river and a handbag, which may have belonged to one of the women.

Earlier, at a press conference at Suffolk police headquarters, Detective Chief Inspector Stewart Gull, who is leading the inquiry, said that Ms Clennell had died of "compression to the neck" and that her death was being treated as murder.

Ms Clennell's body and the other body believed to be that of Ms Nicholls were found days after the bodies of three other Ipswich prostitutes were discovered in rural areas around the town.

Gemma Adams, 25, was found in a stream at Hintlesham on December 2. Tania Nicol, 19, was found in the same stream at Copdock on December 8 and Anneli Alderton, 24, was found in woods at Nacton on December 10.

All three women were found naked as were the two found near Levington on Tuesday.

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