Esther Dingley: Hiker's Pyrenees death an accident, police say

Esther Dingley sent this selfie at the top of a mountain on 22 November

The death of a British hiker in the Pyrenees was an accident, French police have said.

Esther Dingley's remains were found by her partner Daniel Colegate on Monday more than eight months after she disappeared during a solo trek.

A source told the BBC she suffered injuries associated with a fall and though the cause was unclear, her shoes "were not adequate for icy conditions".

The judge in charge of the inquiry said her body may be repatriated next week.

Daniel Colegate walked hundreds of miles in the search for his missing partner Esther Dingley

The BBC's Chris Bockman in Toulouse said an autopsy and an examination of her rucksack had been carried out by forensic teams.

He said it was "unclear" how the accident had happened but police believe the hiking shoes she was wearing several thousand metres up a mountain "did not have the grip necessary for the icy conditions at the time and she probably slipped and fell".

He also said French officers had confirmed Mr Colegate, who was 100 miles away in France when Ms Dingley, 37, disappeared, was not a suspect.

Ms Dingley was an experienced hiker

LBT Global, a charity which is supporting Ms Dingley's family, had said her death was probably an accident "given the location and other early indications".

Ms Dingley, who was an experienced hiker, was trekking alone when she last communicated with her partner from the top of Pic de Sauvegarde at about 16:00 on 22 November.

Mr Colegate raised the alarm several days later when she failed to report in at an agreed time.

The couple from Durham were on an open-ended campervan tour of Europe and Ms Dingley was on the final walk of a month-long solo expedition when she died.