Constance Marten and Mark Gordon in court over baby Victoria manslaughter charge

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon are due to appear at the Old Bailey on 31 March.

A couple have been remanded in custody charged with the manslaughter of a baby called Victoria.

The child's remains were found in a plastic bag under nappies in a shed in Brighton, a magistrates' court heard.

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were also charged with concealing a child's birth and perverting the course of justice.

The discovery of the baby, who was named in court documents, was made on Wednesday after a major search.

A post-mortem examination held on Friday could not establish a cause of death and further tests will take place, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Ms Marten, 35, and Gordon, 48, are due to appear at the Old Bailey on 31 March.

Gordon, 48, is led into Crawley Police Station before appearing in court

During the short hearing, at Crawley Magistrates' Court on Friday, the couple spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and that they were of no fixed abode.

They were first arrested on Monday following a 53-day missing persons search which led to a wooded area in East Sussex.

Hundreds of officers using sniffer dogs, thermal cameras, helicopters and drones were drafted in to look for the child.

Police had previously said it was "too early" to say when the baby had died.

The Met Police has referred the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct because the baby died during a missing persons investigation it was leading.