Briton killed with machete

A British man was hacked to death with a machete at a railway station in central France, police revealed today.

The 56-year-old Welshman was murdered in an apparently motiveless attack, they said.

His body was found by train workers at 10 last night on the platform of the SNCF station at Orleans. It is thought the killing took place at about 9pm.

Police know the man's identity but cannot reveal it until his family have been informed. A police spokesman said: "We think the man was waiting for a train. His wounds correspond to an attack with a machete. The body was pushed into a corner where it was mostly hidden from view."

France is suffering a wave of violence in the run-up to the Presidential elections on 5 May. Earlier this week a farmer shot a policeman. Two weeks ago psychopath Richard Durn massacred eight councillors.