The father of a woman murdered by her stalker ex-boyfriend says she was "let down" by police procedures.

Alice Ruggles was murdered in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, by Scottish soldier Trimaan "Harry" Dhillon in October last year.

Dhillon killed Ms Ruggles, 24, by cutting her throat after driving to her flat from his barracks in Penicuick, Midlothian.

Her father, Professor Clive Ruggles, said police should have done more after she called them with concerns about Dhillon's obsessive behaviour.

In an interview on the Good Morning Britain programme, Prof Ruggles said: "I think procedures let her down.

"The first thing that let her down was her being unaware of just how much danger she was in in the earlier stages and by the time she really did ring the police, she'd been - there were hundreds of messages, voice messages, he was bombarding her on the phone.

"He was controlling, he was obsessive, absolutely obsessive."

He said Ms Ruggles called police after Dhillon knocked on her window one night to leave flowers and chocolates.

Prof Ruggles continued: "When she called, the police did a risk assessment, she wasn't considered high risk - there had been no history of violence.

"They issued a PIN, a police information notice, which she thought and we all thought would stop him going near her.

"In fact it doesn't have any legal status, Northumbria Police don't use them any more now. She thought that was protecting her but it wasn't."

Prof Ruggles said awareness needed to be raised about stalking, while police and prosecution procedures also needed to be improved.

A previous girlfriend of Dhillon's had taken legal action against him after he displayed similar behaviour.

Rachel Griffin, of the stalking victims charity Suzy Lamplugh Trust, also appeared on the programme calling for a register of stalkers.

She said: "Being able to look back at the history of perpetrators is one step."

An independent investigation will take place into Northumbria Police's actions before Ms Ruggles was killed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission will examine the police response to Ms Ruggles' initial call to police when she reported Dhillon was stalking her.

Dhillon, 26, was jailed for life after being convicted of her murder in April this year and will serve a minimum of 22 years.