A British student has been found semi-naked with her throat cut in the historic Italian hill town of Perugia.

Meredith Kercher, 21, was studying at the town’s University for Foreigners, under the EU Erasmus programme. Reports said that she had returned alone to the house she shared with three other women students late on Thursday after a party. Her body is believed to have been found under a duvet or mattress in a state of undress.

She was found by officers from the Postal and Communications Police Service who were checking the discovery of a mobile phone registered to her name in a nearby garden. Some reports said that an elderly woman had complained to the police of receiving “menacing phone calls” from the number. It is thought that the door to Ms Kercher’s room was locked, and her attacker appeared to have left through a window.

Viale Sant’ Antonio, the area where Ms Kercher lived, is within walking distance of the Università per Stranieri, in the centre of Perugia. Ms Kercher, who graduated from Leeds University this year, was one of six British students registered on an Erasmus course at the university.

Known to her friends as Mez, she was due to return to her family home, in Coulsdon, Surrey, next Friday, for the birthday of her mother, Arline.

The student wrote to a friend on the Facebook website: “I . . . am taking modern history, modern political theories and cinema history. It’s all mostly about the French revolution which i know nothing about. would say it’s going well!! Miss u, especially dancingxxx.

“I’m back for a bit in Nov for my mum’s bday, 9th til the 14th. Then back again for Xmas around the 15th. I am having a good time thanks, it’s starting to get really cold now tho but choc festival is on at the moment so just a good excuse to drink a lot of hot chocolate.”

Last night her father, John, a journalist, said: “I’m just stunned, I can’t even cry I’m so in shock. I am flying out there as soon as possible.”

Ms Kercher had an older brother, Lyle, 28, and sister, Stephanie, 24. She was thought to be a former pupil of the Old Palace School of John Whitgift, a private girls’ school in Croydon.Last night the British consul in Florence was travelling to Perugia to assist local police. The British Embassy in Rome confirmed that Ms Kercher’s next of kin had been informed.

Surrounded by rolling hills, Perugia is one of the most picturesque towns in Umbria. It is noted for its art museum, its chocolates, and for its jazz festival in the summer. It was the home of one of Italy’s most celebrated Renaissance aritsts, Perugino, who was born Pietro Vannucci but took his artistic name from his home town.

The Università per Stranieri was founded in 1921, and is popular with foreigners learning Italian language and literature, for which it issues widely respected degrees and diplomas.

The Erasmus project, short for European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students, began in 1987 as a European Community student exchange scheme.

A spokeswoman for Erasmus confirmed that the project had provided financial assistance to Ms Kercher for her studies, but gave no further details.

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