Detectives investigating the murder of a woman whose body was hidden in a suitcase and dumped in a ditch have released photographs of the adhesive tape with which she was tied.

The tape, produced exclusively for sale in shops in Tate galleries, was used to bind and gag the woman whose body was found near Askham Richard, North Yorkshire.

Detective Inspector Jon Reed, who is heading the investigation, displayed a roll of the tape, which has now been withdrawn from Tate gallery shops, at a press conference in York.

He said fewer than 1,500 rolls of the tape had been sold at the Tate Modern and Tate Britain galleries in London, and the Tate galleries in Liverpool and St Ives, Cornwall, since September last year.

North Yorkshire Police said that the identity of the woman still remained a mystery, but confirmed that the suitcase which contained her body originated from the South Korean capital of Seoul.

The victim is believed to be Asian or Oriental, aged between 20 and 40, and 4ft 11in. She was slender, with brown eyes and shoulder-length dark hair. Her body was discovered in the suitcase on November 18.

Police said that a cause of death had not yet been established and that the results of toxicology tests could take up to several weeks.