A human head found close to where dismembered body parts belonging to killed EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie were recovered may not be identified for days.

It is understood that the head which was pulled out of Regent’s Canal, near Kingsland Road in Hackney, yesterday, is being stored at Poplar Coroners Court while coroners’ officers are waiting for a pathologist to come and examine it.

“The pathologist may come within the next couple of days but a forensic examination using DNA may have to be carried out. We may not be able to ID the head until the end of the week,” a coroner’s officer said.

Body parts belonging to Ms McCluskie were recovered from the Regent’s Canal after she went missing from the Bethnal Green home she shared with her ill mother Pauline and brother Tony more than six months ago.

Her brother Tony Ms McCluskie, 35, is due to stand trial accused of her murder in November.