Joanna Yeates murder police in appeal over vehicle

Police hunting the killer of landscape architect Joanna Yeates have appealed for information about a 4x4 vehicle seen near to the area where her body was found.

Senior Investigating Officer Phil Jones of Avon and Somerset Police said the light-coloured vehicle was spotted around the time 25-year-old is believed to have disappeared.

He explained: "We have had a number of reports of vehicles in Longwood Lane during the late Friday evening and early hours of Saturday morning, including a possibly light-coloured 4x4 vehicle.

"This 4x4 and the other vehicles may be completely unconnected but I urge anyone in that car or any other driver in the vicinity that night to come forward."

Police have warned women in Bristol not to walk home alone after dark following the discovery of Miss Yeates's snow-covered body on Christmas Day.

Her landlord Chris Jefferies, the only person to be arrested as part of the investigation so far, was freed on police bail pending further inquiries.

The 65-year-old was arrested on suspicion of the murder on Thursday and held until Saturday night, when he was released.

Increased patrols are being maintained in the up-market Clifton area where Miss Yeates lived with her boyfriend Greg Reardon, 27, to reassure the public as more than 70 police officers and other staff continue to investigate the crime.

Police have given assurances that there was nothing to suggest the murderer was a serial killer or that the public should be extra-worried.

Miss Yeates was last seen on the evening of Friday December 17 after she had been drinking with colleagues in the Ram pub in Park Street.

Her body was found by dog walkers in Failand, North Somerset, on Christmas Day. She had been strangled.