Tony and Linda O'Malley were missing for six months

It is exactly a year since Anthony and Linda O'Malley, from Llangollen, left north Wales to look for an idyllic retirement home on the Costa Blanca.

But they disappeared, and money was taken from their bank accounts - their bodies were found months later buried in the cellar of a house near the coastal resort of Benidorm.

Two men await trial for murder, but the Spanish authorities have said they cannot release the bodies of Linda O'Malley, 55, and her husband, who was 42.

Family liaison officer Steve Lloyd said attempts had been made to hurry things along, but there was little that could be done.

"It is a different country, a different culture, a different legal system," he said.

Their bodies were found in the villa's cellar

"We have got to abide by what goes on over there."

The couple, who were originally from Liverpool, disappeared in September while on a two-week holiday to look for property.

They had been the subject of a missing persons inquiry for six months before they were discovered at a house in the town of Alcoy.

A post mortem examination revealed Mrs O'Malley had been badly beaten before being strangled.

Mr O'Malley's body was found with a plastic bag over the head.

Two South American men have been charged with kidnapping and murder, and a trial could be scheduled over the next few months.