A man has been charged with murder following the death of an 85-year-old woman.

Metropolitan Police officers charged Mark Herman, 54, with murdering the elderly woman in Rushden Gardens in Ilford.

A post-mortem examination has confirmed the cause of her death as compression to the neck.

Detectives have named the victim as Loretta Herman, though formal identification has not yet taken place.

Officers and paramedics were called to the quiet residential street at 10.51am on Friday, where Ms Herman was found unconscious and not breathing.

Paramedics battled for an hour to save her life but she was pronounced dead at just before midday.

Red roses have since been left on the doorstep to the home, where neighbours said Ms Herman had lived for around 35 years.

One local resident said she found the news “terrible” and “very upsetting”.

The woman, who asked to be named only as Debra, said: “It’s a terrible death for an old lady, in her own home, it’s very upsetting."

Herman, of Rushden Gardens, is being held in custody and will appear at Redbridge Magistrates’ Court on Monday.