THE housemate of a student brutally murdered on a Thai island said pals have been left broken hearted by her death.

Lucy Dunkley said the terraced house in Morant Road, Colchester, she shared with Hannah Witheridge was full of happy memories.

Hannah, 23, was discovered with head injuries on a beach on Koh Tao on Monday, next to the body of fellow backpacker David Miller, 24, from Jersey.

She was about to start the second year of her master’s degree in speech and language therapy at Essex University.

Lucy, 25, said: "She was the loveliest girl and we are all broken hearted.”

Gazette: The family of Hannah Witheridge said they were utterly devastated and shocked by what happened to her

Meanwhile, tests carried out on a group of Burmese migrants questioned after the deaths have shown no DNA matches, putting fresh pressure on police to find the pair's killers.

The migrants were arrested after bloodstains were found on some of their clothes, but Thai police said no matches were found between them and two sets of DNA found on Hannah's body and on a cigarette butt discovered near the scene of the murders.

DNA found on the body of Miss Witheridge, who was discovered semi-naked alongside Mr Miller on a beach on the island of Koh Tao on Monday, has also not been found to match that of British brothers James and Christopher Ware, who have also been spoken to by officers.

British man questioned over Hannah's death

For more tributes, see Thursday's Gazette