The funeral of 61-year-old Trowbridge grandmother Antonietta Guarino, who was found dead in the river Avon at Bradford on Avon, will be held in Surrey today.

Mrs Guarino's son and daughter, who live in Chertsey, Surrey, have invited her close friends and anyone who knew her to attend the funeral service at St Anne's Roman Catholic Church in Eastworth Road, Chertsey, at midday.

A private family burial will follow the service at Addlestone Cemetery in Green Lane, Addlestone.

Many of Mrs Guarino's friends in Trowbridge and former work colleagues were intending to travel to Surrey today to pay their respects.

Mrs Guarino, of Osborne Road, was found in the river Avon last month.

A post mortem examination revealed she had died from severe 'blunt' head injuries.

Wiltshire Police had launched a missing person inquiry following her disappearance on January 7.

More than 100 officers worked on the inquiry at its peak, with several areas searched for evidence, including the area around Virgin Mobile's headquarters in Trowbridge, the landfill site at Lower Compton, bins around Charlotte Square and the Hilperton Gap.

Police later called in divers from Avon and Somerset Police to search the river Avon at Bradford on Avon following 'specific intelligence'.

The search was hampered by extreme weather conditions and Mrs Guarino's body was eventually found by Bradford resident Ron Lutman, 200 metres downstream of the weir at Greenland Mills.

*Two men have been charged with Mrs Guarino's murder -her 24-year-old lodger Marc Riley and his boyfriend 19-year-old David Carr-Burstow, who is of no fixed abode.

Both remain in custody awaiting their next appearance at Bristol Crown Court. They have not entered a plea to the charge of murder.