A 76-YEAR-OLD woman found dead at her Mirfield home was a great grandmother.

Police are today continuing to question a 32-year-old woman after Anne Garbutt's body was found at her terraced cottage on a quiet, secluded lane in Battyeford, Mirfield.

We can reveal that widow Mrs Garbutt's grand-daughter, Joanne, raised the alarm by hammering on a neighbour's door at on Bank Holiday Monday morning. A murder inquiry was then launched.

Neighbours on The Clough where Mrs Garbutt lived have spoken about their shock.

One said: "Everyone is absolutely devastated. What has happened is a terrible tragedy."

76-year-old had very close family

A WOMAN found dead at her Mirfield home was a great grandmother.

The grand-daughter of Anne Garbutt raised the alarm by hammering on a neighbour's door on the quiet 'oasis' where she lived alone.

The body of Mrs Garbutt, 76, a widow, was discovered by police and paramedics. They were called to Mrs Garbutt's end terrace cottage in The Clough, Battyeford, at 9.40am on Monday morning.

A 32-year-old woman was arrested by police who launched a murder investigation. The woman continues to be questioned by officers from West Yorkshire Police's Homicide And Major Enquiry Team.

A neighbour revealed that Mrs Garbutt had been suffering from dementia for the last three years and was visited virtually every day by her devoted daughter, Maureen, and often by her grand-daughter Joanne, who has a severely disabled 12-year-old daughter.

The neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: "Everyone is absolutely devastated by what has happened.

"Mrs Garbutt has lived here for years and was a lovely lady. She used to be very smartly-dressed and her hair was always immaculate, but over the last three years she has suffered more and more from dementia and has become frail.

"She used to stay indoors most of the time, but a few times has wandered away from home in her slippers and we have had to look for her and bring her back.

"What has happened is a terrible tragedy."

The neighbour revealed that Joanne had run to his home.

"She was in a terrible state and was screaming that something had happened to her grandma," he said. "She asked if we could look after her son while she called an

ambulance.

"It was very shocking to see the police cars and the ambulance arrive not long after and seal the place off."

Police community support officers continued to stand guard outside Mr Garbutt's home yesterday while scenes of crime officers continued their investigation inside.

The Clough is a steep lane linking busy Huddersfield Road with Stocks Bank Road and has terraced cottages on one side and large detached houses on the other. The start of the road is opposite The Pear Tree Inn.

People who live there dub it 'the oasis' because it is so quiet and peaceful with few people knowing it exists.

"I just can't believe something like this would be possible here," added the neighbour. "It's usually a friendly and quite quiet place to live. Mrs Garbutt was very friendly and polite, but her condition had been getting worse.

"It had been getting to the stage where she didn't recognise family or regular visitors to the house. Prior to that she had always been a very active person and would regularly go off on walks all over Yorkshire on her own."

Floral tributes lay beside the entrance to the front garden.

One read: "To a lovely lady who will be sadly missed. Love from Mark, Sue, Nicola, Dawn, Heather and Georgina."