AN inquest into the deaths of hero police officer Ian Dibell and gunman Peter Reeve will be opened today.

The off-duty officer was killed when he intervened in an incident near to his home in Redbridge Road, Clacton, on Monday afternoon.

Reeve, the prime suspect in PC Dibell's shooting, was found dead on Tuesday morning in the graveyard at All Saints Church, Writtle, after turning the gun on himself.

The inquest is due to be opened and adjourned by the Essex coroner at the Civic Centre, Chelmsford, at midday.

A spokesman for Essex Police said post mortem examinations of the bodies of both PC Dibell and Reeve have taken place, but that a live murder investigation is still in progress.

“The police will now prepare a file on the case for the coroner,” he said.

“When it is concluded it will be passed to the coroner and that will be the end of the investigation.

“That will be some time in the future. We are working as fast as we can, but that is not expected to be for at least a few weeks.

“A large team of detectives has been involved in the investigation and at one time there were 40 detectives involved.

“There was a special ballistic team brought in from another part of the country, as well as police officers, neighbourhood officers, police community support officers and special constables.

“The large police search team worked long hours.

“This level of activity would have been carried out in similar circumstances, even if the victim was not a police officer.”

Cordons, which were put in place following the incident, were lifted on Wednesday night.