AN alleged murder victim's body has been returned to the UK for burial, six years after she went missing in France.

Today the family of former Darwen woman Evelyn Lund were finally making arrange- ments for her funeral.

Her husband Robert, a former Blackburn Council tree protection officer, is in jail in the town of Albi awaiting trial for her murder, which could take place in April.

Mrs Lund's body was discovered on the backseat of her Toyota Landcruiser car at the bottom of a lake 22 months after she went missing.

The 52-year-old was living in the south of France with her husband in a converted barn at La Vaute, near Montpellier, and was last seen by friends on the evening of December 29, 1999.

She was reported to the French authorities as a missing person by her husband in early January.

Despite extensive police inquiries, Mrs Lund's body was not discovered until a severe drought in October 2001 significantly lowered the level of Lake La Bancali - around 15 miles from her home.

Her daughter, Patricia Kay, lives in Franklin Street in Blackburn with husband Alan and their three children.

Mr Kay said: "We are relieved that she is home now. It has been a long time. All we can do now is wait and see what happens in the trial next year."

Friend Marianne Ramsey was one of the last people to see Mrs Lund alive.

Speaking from her home in France, she said: "For the family this is a sort of closure. I am so pleased that at last they can bring her home."

In an exclusive series of interviews in December 2003, Lund told the Lancashire Telegraph that he loved Evelyn but admitted he slapped his wife during their violent marriage. However, he insisted that he was not responsible for her death.

He said: "I have told the truth right from the word go because I have nothing to hide."

He has been in prison since being arrested in November 2004.

At an inquest opened into her death in Blackburn yesterday, coroner Michael Singleton said that the murder trial may go ahead in April.

But, speaking from France, where he is visiting his brother, Neville Lund said that his family had been told that the trial may not take place until next autumn - three years after Lund was first arrested.

He said the delays were "disgusting" and Lund was suffering depression and psychiatric problems as he awaits trial.

He said: "He is frustrated but doing OK and is on a lot of medication.

"He has been in Albi jail for two years now and we have been told that it could be another year before his trial. It is disgusting."

The couple had moved to France from their home in Winter Hill, Darwen, in 1996, two years after marrying.

Following the completion of police inquiries her body has been released and has now returned home.

An inquest has been opened into the death and adjourned until May 1.

Coroner Michael Singleton said that whatever the outcome of the criminal proceedings in France, it would be necessary to hold a full inquest.

He said: "I will adjourn this inquest until after that date for the proceedings to be concluded and for the French authorities to provide full details of the relevant evidence."