The family of a housesitter bludgeoned to death will make a fresh appeal for information this week on the eve of the first anniversary of her brutal killing.

Valerie Graves was found dead with serious head and facial injuries at a house in Smugglers Lane in Bosham, near Chichester, on December 30 last year.

On Tuesday her 32-year-old son Tim and 35-year-old daughter Jemima will make a fresh appeal for information to help find her killer, according to reports in today’s Sunday Express.

The 55-year-old grandmother had only recently moved back to Sussex from Scotland to help care for her elderly mother in Bracklesham Bay before she was killed in a house where she was staying for the festive period while its owners were away.

High-profile appeals will be made before and around Christmas while there will be a large Sussex Police presence in the West Sussex village on December 29 and 30 to reassure residents and seek new information.

Detectives involved in the biggest murder investigation in the county for 15 years believe Mrs Graves’ killer could still be living locally in or around Bosham.

A previous BBC Crimewatch appeal, a Crimestoppers and Sussex Police reward of £20,000 and a dedicated website to the case have still failed to find her killer almost a year on.

In October, Sussex Police announced that forensic scientists had obtained a DNA profile for the suspect identifying them as a male and requested local males to offer voluntary DNA samples.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk quoting Operation Ensign or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.