A severed head has been recovered from the same stretch of water where the torso of actress Gemma McCluskie was found in March.

Police removed the head from Regent’s Canal in Hackney on Sunday afternoon after a member of the public reported it earlier that morning.

The grim discovery was made less than a mile from where the torso of former East Enders actress Gemma McCluskie, 29, was found six months ago.

A police spokesman said: “We can confirm that a head was recovered from Regent’s Canal. It is still yet to be identified.”

There was no further comment as to whether the discovery was linked to the Gemma McCluskie case.

McCluskie was missing for a week after disappearing on her way home from a charity event to the home she shared with her brother Tony McCluskie and her mother.

Friends launched an extensive search for her before her headless and limbless body was found in the canal near Broadway Market. Her limbs were found some weeks later.

Tony McCluskie, 35, will appear in court in November charged with his sister’s murder.