Manhunt After Brits Killed In Thai Beach Attack

Two British tourists found murdered on a beach on the Thai island of Koh Tao have been named.

Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found semi-naked and had apparently been attacked with a hoe.

Their clothes and the blood-stained hoe were found nearby, said Colonel Prachum Ruangthong from Thailand's police force.

Images show Ms Witheridge's body sprawled metres from the sea in a rocky area of Sairee beach.

Col Prachum said: "The man was chopped in the back and on the side of his head, while the woman was chopped in her face. It's very gruesome."

The Foreign Office is investigating reports that police are hunting a British backpacker over the murders.

The suspect apparently knew Mr Miller and may have fled to Bangkok.

The pair had been staying in a bungalow 100 metres from where their bodies were found and had been at a party there on Sunday night, according to Sky News sources.

They did not travel to the island together, and CCTV images show they left a bar together at around 1am on Monday.

Ms Witheridge was thought to have been travelling with three friends.

Investigators are probing whether there was a sexual motive for the attack and have been checking CCTV footage from nearby restaurants, hotels and shops for clues.

Footage showed shocked tourists and locals gathered behind a cordon on the beach on Monday while dozens of police carried out investigations.

The victims' bodies were removed from the beach in blue body bags.

British travellers Kath Patel and Helen Bradbrook, who have been staying 100 metres from where the bodies were found, said they were shocked by the murders and had decided not to go out for their final night on the island.

They said many people on the island have been carrying on with their holidays as normal.

Ms Patel, 23, from Lancashire, told Sky News: "We have been in Vietnam and Cambodia, and out of everywhere we have been I have felt most safe here on Koh Tao."

Ms Bradbrook, from Guildford, Surrey, added: "It is so small, like a really friendly atmosphere, and because it is just that one beach then you feel really safe when you are out."

Koh Tao (Turtle Island) is a popular destination for scuba divers in the Gulf of Thailand.