British woman found beaten to death in French village with 'five deep wounds'

A British woman was beaten to death with a sharp object before her lifeless body was discovered at her home in , prosecutors have said.

Authorities have launched a investigation after the woman, aged 65, was found by her friend in Tremolat, a village in the French Dordogne region on Tuesday evening. She appeared to have suffered five wounds seemingly caused by a blunt object when she was found next to her car, according to state prosecutor Sylvie Martins Guedes. Ms Guedes said in a statement this evening that the woman had lived in her Dordogne apartment for several years before her death.

She added that her wounds "indicated a particularly violent attack", which suggested the perpetrator had "an intention to kill". She said: "Her wounds indicated a particularly violent attack and their locations showed an intention to kill.

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"Investigations are underway to identify and detain the perpetrator of this crime." The Bergerac prosecutor's office further added the woman was a mum of four, and was hit in her chest, arm, groin and leg.

Investigators said the woman was spending time with a friend with whom she had been in a relationship for several weeks. They had spent the evening together in Tremolat with friends before returning to the Brit's home.

The friend arrived at the home 10 minutes after her, finding her "collapsed and unconscious" near the vehicle. Prosecutors said he called for help before starting to administer first aid, and was temporarily held in custody when police arrived at the scene.

He was released following a hearing on Wednesday evening. French national outlet Francebleu reported a "large trace of blood" was visible in front of her home, which the outlet said "testifies to the violence of the blows inflicted on this woman".

The prosecutor added the woman was a member of the women's over-50 Reines du Foot team, which had participated in the South African Grandma's World Cup earlier this month.

Her distraught teammates were among those who paid their respects to the late mother this week after news of her passing reached the community. They said in their own statement that "everyone is in shock", adding: "It's horrible."

A neighbour who lives across from the woman's home said they saw "a lot of flashing lights" after 11pm when emergency services arrived. They said: "I closed the shutters around 9pm, everything was calm. But at 11pm, I saw a lot of flashing lights with the emergency services.

"The police then rang my doorbell around midnight to see if I had noticed anything suspicious, but I didn't see or hear anything."