A 49-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder is still being held by police.

The man was taken into custody after Professor Steven Rawlings, an astrophysicist from Oxford University, was found dead at a house in Southmoor on Wednesday night.

A murder probe was launched, but a post mortem carried out yesterday proved inconclusive.

A police spokesman said officers had applied for a superintendent’s extension to hold the suspect until midday today.

He has not been named but 50-year-old Prof Rawlings, who lived in Letcombe Regis, was found at the home of fellow academic and friend, Dr Davinder Sivia.