Police have been given extra time to question Mark Bridger after revealing he is now being held on suspicion of murdering five-year-old April Jones.

The 46-year-old was originally arrested on suspicion of abducting April.

But detectives made the grim announcement today that he was now being held on suspicion of the schoolgirl's murder.

Several hours later former leisure centre worker Bridger was driven to Aberystwyth Magistrates' Court in a secure van, where an application was made for a further warrant of detention, giving police until tomorrow afternoon before they will have to charge or release him.

The latest developments came as April's shell-shocked parents Paul, 43, and Coral, 40, issued three new photographs of their cherished daughter.