Police say they remain mystified by a murder that shocked a Highland village 25 years ago tomorrow.

The case of the killing of Jimmy Hassard remains open, said Police Scotland.

Significant new ­information in connection with his murder in 1989 emerged following a cold case review in 2010. But still no arrest was made.

Labourer Mr Hassard, 47, who had been working in London, was killed during a visit home to Lochaber.

In 2010 investigating ­officers said they hoped to trace a woman who contacted police anonymously and suggested Mr Hassard had been involved in a fight.

The brawl was believed to have happened in a garden and on the pavement of Kilmallie Road near the junction with Glen Nevis Road, in Caol, near Fort William.

Mr Hassard's battered body was found in the village on 18 February 1989.

Police believe that changed "relationships and loyalties" could hold the key to catching Mr Hassard's brutal killer.

A Police Scotland ­spokesman said: "Subsequent police enquiries into this murder established that he had been drinking in the nearby Lochaber Bar between about 8pm on Friday February 17, 1989 and 1am on Saturday February 18, 1989.

"A police inquiry was ­instigated, but despite a lengthy investigation, the person or persons responsible were never traced.

"Whilst the investigation into the death of Jimmy Hassard is not actively being investigated, the inquiry remains open."

The case remains one of the longest unsolved murders in the Highlands.