A woman whose body was found in the boot of a car could have died in a sex game that went tragically wrong, it was revealed last night.

A woman whose body was found in the boot of a car could have died in a sex game that went tragically wrong, it was revealed last night.

It is thought police are investigating the possibility that Nicola West, who worked at an Ipswich hospice, could have taken part in a sex game just before her death.

Officers were last night continuing to question the two Ipswich men arrested on suspicion of her murder.

The pair, aged 28 and 35, drove a green Ford Escort containing the body of Ms West to the town's police station, in Elm Street, at about 10.30pm on Saturday.

After entering the station voluntarily, they were arrested on suspicion of killing the 34-year-old, whose identity was confirmed by police last night.

A post-mortem examination carried out by a Home Office pathologist found she died from strangulation.

Police were yesterday granted an extra 36 hours to question the two men, who were being held at the Elm Street station.

It is understood officers are investigating the link with a sex game as a result of information that has come to their attention since the men were arrested.

A police spokesman said the secluded road around the Suffolk Ski Centre, in Bourne Hill, Wherstead, near Ipswich, was still being treated as a “potential crime scene”, although it had now been reopened.

He said it was not yet known when and where Ms West was killed, or how long she had been in the boot of the car.

Last night, one of Ms West's neighbours, in Leather Bottle Hill, Little Blakenham, near Ipswich, described her as a friendly and likeable woman.

He said: “I knew Nicky reasonably well. She was a friendly person.

“She had blonde hair tied up in a pony tail.

“She was friendly to us almost as soon as she moved in and was a very social person.

“Everybody got on well with her.”

The neighbour, who declined to be named, said Ms West's car, a maroon Ford Escort, had not been moved for several days from its parking space in the street outside the two-bedroom house she is believed to have rented.

Ms West, whose family are believed to come from Essex, was regularly visited by her sister and mother, according to the neighbour.

Tributes were last night paid to her by her colleagues at St Elizabeth Hospice, in Foxhall Road, Ipswich, where she had worked for nearly a year.

Chief executive Lesley Cockerton said: “We are very shocked and saddened by the news of the death of Nicky West.

“She joined the hospice on April 18 and was a particularly enthusiastic and hard working individual.

“Nicky achieved a great deal during her time here and made significant improvements to our distribution centre.

“She will be sadly missed and our thoughts are with her family.”