Respects paid to river death pensioner

Tributes have been paid to an elderly woman who was found dead in the River Severn at Newtown.

The woman has been named locally as Mrs Elsie Lloyd Vigus, 83, of Llanmerewig, near Abermule.

Mrs Vigus was found by a police officer at around lunchtime on Monday on the banks of the river following a two-day search which included specialist search and rescue teams and the dog-handling unit.

She was reported missing on Saturday.

Neighbour Val Thompson, who raised the alarm, said Mrs Vigus "was a character."

She said: "I would go round there twice a day, morning and night to check on her and took her shopping or wherever she wanted to go. She didn't have any children."

Mrs Thompson said she believed Mrs Vigus had lived in the village for nearly 20 years with her husband Kenneth Vigus, who died last month.

"I have only been here four-and-a-half years but we sort of looked after them, her and her husband. He was a gentleman and she was a very private lady."

Another resident, Walter Davies, added Mrs Vigus and her husband were very close. He said: "It was a shock for us all, it shocked the whole village."

A funeral has been provisionally booked for December 7 at 2.30pm at the church in Llanmerewig, followed by cremation.