Rape investigation

Marianne Ny said his arrest warrant was being revoked as it was impossible to serve him notice of his alleged crimes.

Mr Assange, 45, has lived in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since 2012, fearing extradition to Sweden would lead to extradition to the US.

Police in London said they would still be obliged to arrest him if he left.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said Mr Assange still faced the lesser charge of failing to surrender to a court, an offence punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine.

The trio, New Zealander Rory Grice, France's Loick Jammes and Ireland's Denis Coulson have been put under formal investigation by a French examining magistrate following a complaint by a 21 year-old woman.

She told police on March 12th she was drugged and taken to a hotel in Bordeaux where she was raped a French Top 14 game between clubs Bordeaux and Grenoble.

Prosecutors have issued a statement saying there was evidence that Grice, Jammes and Coulson had probably taken part 'either as initiator or accomplice' in the crime.