A WORKING party is to be set up by German and Kent Police to investigate the missing student nurse Louise Kerton.

The development comes after Kent Assistant Chief Constable Mike Bowron and other leading officers met with their German counterparts in Aachen.

Louise, from Broadstairs, was last seen in Aachen in July last year. Her family, who live in New Ash Green, near Dartford, have urged German police to treat her search as a murder hunt. A Kent Police spokesman said: “The meeting was most fruitful with an open, receptive and forthright exchange of views.

"All the objectives set by Kent Police were met in full. While acknowledging and respecting the two different legal systems in Germany and the UK it was agreed the best way to proceed was to establish a joint working party with three police officers from Kent and Aachen.”

The spokesman added both Aachen and Kent Police would look at opportunities for instigating a criminal investigation.

Louise had been staying with her fiance’s mother near Euskirchen, 60km from Aachen, when she went missing. She was due to catch a train to Ostende in Belgium but never arrived.