A COUPLE who were out walking near Betty Yates cottage in Bewdley are thought by the police to be the last to see her alive.

The pair, who were walking back to their car at Arley from Bewdley, came across a woman answering to Mrs Yates's description who was by a gate leading from her cottage, Riverscroft, at about 3.30pm on Monday, January 2.

She was heading in the opposite direction along the path and remarked that it was too nice an afternoon to be indoors.

Friends of Mrs Yates have told police that she had visited them in the Bewdley area earlier in the afternoon, which was the last confirmed sighting of her alive.

The 77-year-old retired schoolteacher was found stabbed to death in her home on the morning of Wednesday, 4 January, after friends raised the alarm because she had not turned up for a pre-arranged walk.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Jamieson, who is leading the murder hunt, said today: "The description given by this couple matches Betty and what she was believed to be wearing that day and has opened up a new line of inquiry.

"We urgently need to hear from fishermen, walkers or anyone else who may have seen her walking alongside the river or in the Dowles Road area that afternoon, or anyone who knows where she was going or who she may have been going to visit.

"We have more than 50 officers and staff working flat out following up the large volume of information which is still coming in from members of the public and I would again like to thank the many people who have responded to our appeals. Building up a detailed picture of her final movements, character and lifestyle is vital to our investigation and every fragment we receive is helping to put that jigsaw together.

"We will not rest until the killer or killers are caught and the determination of our officers to achieve that reflects the shock and outrage felt by the community over Betty's death."

An inquest was yesterday opened by the Coroner for Worcestershire, Geraint Williams, and adjourned until 1 March.

Witnesses or anyone with information should call the Major Incident Room at Stourport Police Station on 0300 333 3000 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.