TWO anonymous letters about the murder of Betty Yates have been sent to police, who are urging the authors to come forward.

The letters were received this week and contain information which have sparked potential new lines of inquiry and officers are keen to talk to the people who sent them. Betty Yates was found stabbed to death at her cottage, Riverscroft, on the morning of Wednesday, January 4.

She had also been attacked with one of her own walking sticks. Police believe she was killed on the evening of Bank Holiday Monday, January 2.

The murder investigation is still in full swing and officers have removed the outer cordon leading from the riverside cottage about a mile up to Dowles Road after search teams finished combing surrounding fields and woodland for clues.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Jamieson, who is in charge of the inquiry, said: "Although those searches have been completed there is still a lot of forensic work ongoing at the cottage itself and that will continue for some time. We also continue to study CCTV.

"It is now more than a fortnight since Mrs Yates was found murdered but information is still coming in from members of the public through a variety of sources. In the last few days alone we have had several new sightings of considerable interest reported to us and those are being followed up.

"As a result of anniversary checks we received some information from a member of the public who was driving along a lane close to the murder scene on Monday 2 January. This motorist was driving out of Bewdley towards Button Oak and reported seeing a man walking alone between 8.20pm and 8.30pm.

The man is described as a white man in his 20s who was wearing a thigh length dark coloured jacket. We are keen to speak to that man in the strictest confidence. But I would stress, however, this sighting is only one of many current lines of inquiry and that it is a particularly complex case - hence the extra officers drafted in this week to work on it.

"We are also studying two anonymous letters and I would appeal to the people who wrote those to come forward in case they have any other information that could assist this investigation. We can only find that out by talking to them.

"This was a vicious and cruel attack on a pensioner who was living alone and unable to defend herself. Although such crimes are fortunately extremely rare it has obviously shocked the local community and everyone involved. "We will not rest until we have got to the bottom of this and we are confident someone out there has some idea who has done this and why. I would appeal again for them to get in touch and tell us."

Officers are still searching for Mrs Yates's keys, which were attached to a black, pencil case-sized purse she normally carried. That has not been found. Police also want to hear from anyone who visited her cottage on or after December 28, the day of her 77th birthday.

Anyone with information should call the Major Incident Room at Stourport on 0300 333 3000, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.