Fritzl held for two more months

Mr Fritzl claims he wanted to control his daughter's behaviour

A judge in Austria has extended by two months the detention of Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter in a cellar for 24 years.

The ruling came during a closed-door hearing in St Poelten, where Mr Fritzl has been held since the end of April.

The state prosecutor's office said more time was required to gather evidence.

Forensic experts are still examining the cellar where Mr Fritzl allegedly raped his daughter, Elizabeth, fathering seven children by her.

On Monday, prosecutors said they believed Mr Fritzl had acted without an accomplice despite the questions which have since been raised by former lodgers in his house in the town of Amstetten.

Evidence hunt

A spokesman for the Lower Austria state prosecutor's office, Gerhard Sedlacek, said Mr Fritzl's lawyer had not contested the extension of his detention at court on Thursday.

The ruling came in a closed door hearing in a court in St Poelten

In Austria, a suspect can be held in custody for up to two years pending trial. No date has been set but Mr Sedlacek said Mr Fritzl was unlikely to be charged for another three or four months.

He said prosecutors were hoping to start interviewing Elisabeth Fritzl and her family in early July, but that the timing would depend on their state of health.

Doctors last month began bringing her eldest child, 19-year-old Kerstin, out of the coma they had induced to help her fight serious infections which may have damaged her brain.

Mr Fritzl's actions came to light when Kerstin became seriously ill in April. She was allowed out of the cellar and admitted to hospital.

Police then issued an appeal to Elisabeth to contact them about her daughter, and later picked up Mr Fritzl and Elisabeth nearby.

Elisabeth told police her father had started sexually abusing her when she was 11. In reported conversations with his lawyer, Mr Fritzl admitted repeatedly raping his daughter in the cellar, saying it had been "like an addiction".

Elisabeth and her children are continuing to be cared for at a psychiatric clinic. Their lawyer has said they are likely to be given new identities and may also consider relocating to another country.