MURDERED pensioner Jenny Methven cut short her final telephone conversation after she heard a vehicle pulling into her driveway, police have revealed.

The 80-year-old, who was hit over the head with a blunt object, was on the phone to a friend at around 10.30am last Monday when she ended their conversation on hearing someone approaching her cottage.

Tayside Police say the pensioner did not see the vehicle while she was on the phone and was not expecting visitors to her home at Kildinny Farm in Forteviot, Perthshire. Police are now trying to establish whether Mrs Methven knew her killer and trusted them enough to give them access to her house.

Detective Chief Inspector Colin Gall claimed the information from the phone call has formed a crucial part of the investigation. He said: "Jenny was chatting with her friend on the phone from about 9.45am. They spoke about various things and Jenny told her friend she had been out with the dog just prior to the call.

"Then she had to cut the conversation short because she heard the vehicle pulling up. Clearly this is key information directly from the deceased to her friend.

"We need to identify this vehicle and its occupants. At this point in the inquiry, this is the last known time we can confirm Mrs Methven was still alive and this vehicle was there.

"Whoever was in that vehicle can assist us with our investigation and I urge them to come forward."

Detectives have also received information from witnesses who saw two vehicles in Mrs Methven's driveway at around 1.45pm on the day of the murder.

She was found dead by her son at 5.15pm that day.

The vehicles are described as being white or light-coloured and were parked nose to tail in the driveway. One of the vehicles was larger than the other and it is possible they were vans.

Police are also looking to trace a man who was seen boarding a Perth-bound bus at the nearest stop to Mrs Methven's cottage at 4.30pm on Monday last week.

The man, aged between 35 and 50 and of medium build, was wearing a dark-coloured tammy with a light-coloured motif, a dark Puffa-style jacket, a light-coloured scarf and hiking boots.

He was later seen getting off the bus in Perth city centre.