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Police launched a search of the area using sniffer dogs and a helicopter with thermal imaging equipment.

This afternoon a police cordon had been set up around the area as forensics officers began work.

One local resident said: 'It’s a terrible thing to happen but it can be quite rough around here.

'I just hope they get to the bottom of what happened.'

The woman was found on the Salary Brook Trail on the outskirts of Colchester. The footpath was cordoned off by police today.

Death: The woman was found the Salary Brook Trail public path on the outskirts of Colchester, Essex

Probe: Police are appealing for anyone with information. It is the second brutal murder in the town since March

Officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate are investigating the death.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Hall said: 'We are carrying out house to house enquiries and are searching the area using the police helicopter and dog teams.

'I would ask anyone with any information about what happened to contact Essex Police.'

It is not known if the murder is linked to the killing of James Attfield, pictured with his mother Julie Finch

Essex Police declined to confirm the woman's approximate age or whether anything more is known about her at this stage.

It is thought officersknow her identity.

Officers held a press conference this afternoon to reassure the public they they are safe.

They have instructed Essex County Council to leave street lights on overnight until further notice in the area near where the woman's body was found today.

It comes after a policy of switching
off streetlights between midnight at 5am was introduced across Essex
last year to save energy.

A
council spokesman said: 'We have a protocol within that where we work
with the police. Where they require us for whatever reason to leave the
lights on then that's what we do, and that's what's happened here.'

It is not yet known whether the death could be linked to another brutal murder in a Colchester park three months ago.

James
Attfield, a vulnerable 33-year-old who had brain damage, was stabbed
more than 100 times before being found in a park on the northern side of
the Essex town in the early hours of March 29.

His case appeared on the BBC's Crimewatch and the charity Crimestoppers is offering a £5,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to a murder conviction in his case.

An Essex Police spokesman said: 'We are not ruling anything in or out at this stage.'

Anyone with any information is asked to
contact the Major Investigation Team on 01277 266869, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Forensics: Police set up a half-mile cordon around the area. The woman had severe head and body injuries

Appeal for calm: Street lights near the murder scene will be left on overnight to reassure residents

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Man, 52, arrested after woman found battered to death on a public footpath