The inquest into the death of a young man whose body was found at a beauty spot was opened and suspended today.

Assistant coroner Kate Thomas heard Razvan Sirbu had been found dead in the Loose Valley Conservation Area on the morning of Sunday, May 7, by a member of the public.

A subsequent post-mortem examination found he had died from blunt force trauma.

Mr Sirbu was described as unemployed, single and of no fixed abode.

He was born in Romania on January 8, 1996, making him 21 years old.

His body was identified by his mother and by fingerprint evidence.

DC Geoffrey McCreery, of the Kent Police major crimes unit, told the inquest at Maidstone’s Archbishops’ Palace that a murder investigation had been launched and that inquiries were ongoing.

The inquest was suspended for 28 days.

The body was discovered by dog walkers in Crisbrook Meadow in Tovil, just off Cave Hill.