The man, whose dismembered body was found near the Pepys housing estate in Deptford, south London, on Monday afternoon, had apparently been strangled.

His head and limbs, chopped into 11 sections, were found by Lewisham council workers around 1455 GMT on Monday but his torso remains missing.

The body parts were found scattered under a walk-way overlooking the river.

Scotland Yard detectives are baffled - no clothes were found with the body - and say they have no idea of the victim's identity.

'Strangled and beaten'

A post-mortem examination showed the man had been strangled and hit on the left side of the head with a blunt instrument.

It is thought he had been dead for less than 24 hours.

Detective Chief Inspector Brian Bowden-Brown, who is leading the murder inquiry, said: "It was a gruesome find and quite as to why somebody would want to do such a thing is what we hope to find out.

"They were probably trying to prevent his identity being discovered."

Detectives are working on the theory that the body parts were dumped on the foreshore rather than being washed up by the river.

Missing torso

Mr Bowden-Brown said: "We are still searching because there are other parts of the body which are still missing and a specialist dog section is still looking."

The dead man is described as being in his 20s, white but of Mediterranean appearance with dark brown hair and dark eyes.

Detectives are hopeful of matching his teeth - which are reportedly in a "remarkable" condition - with dental records.

Mr Bowden-Brown said he was around five feet eight inches tall, stockily built and wore size nine shoes. He is thought to have been a non-smoker.

Detectives will inevitably be probing the south London underworld in a bid to discover who the dead man was and who he had offended.

Anyone who saw anything suspicious in the Deptford Wharf area on Sunday or Monday is asked to contact the murder squad at Shooter's Hill on 0181 853 1212.