Rachel exhumation scene prepared

A Home Office pathologist is to examine the remains

A tent has been put up over the grave of heroin addict Rachel Whitear as police prepare to exhume her body.

On Monday a private memorial service was held in the churchyard of St Peter's, Withington, near Hereford, attended by her mother and stepfather.

Detectives investigating the 21-year-old's death will start the exhumation of her remains at dawn on Tuesday.

A post-mortem will then be carried out at Hereford General Hospital.

The area will be treated as a crime scene while the exhumation - part of a fresh inquiry into the death of Miss Whitear - takes place.

The former Bath university student was thought to have died from a drugs overdose in May 2000.

Her parents, Pauline and Mick Holcroft, released pictures showing her dead body, still clutching a syringe and kneeling on the floor of her Devon bedsit, to be used in a video illustrating the dangers of drug abuse to pupils.

However no post mortem was carried out and an inquest recorded an open verdict.

Wiltshire Police, supervised by the Police Complaints Authority, started the re-investigation after Mr and Mrs Holcroft raised concerns about the handling of the original inquiry by Devon and Cornwall Police.

Toxicology tests will be carried out on Miss Whitear's remains to try to discover a cause of death.

After the post-mortem Miss Whitear's remains will be re-interred at the churchyard following a short ceremony.