POLICE on the hunt for a reality TV contestant charged with the gruesome murder of his ex-wife were continuing to search the US-Canadian border after the woman’s relatives pleaded with his friends and family not to help “an animal” evade capture.

Progress by oil heavyweights BP and Royal Dutch Shell failed to lift the FTSE 100 Index to a new four-and-a-half year high today.

The FTSE 100 Index remained at levels not seen for more than four years today as gains by heavyweight oil stocks underpinned progress.