COLD case detectives are to investigate the unsolved murder of a grandmother almost 40 years after she was sexually assaulted and brutally killed.

Annie Irvine, 57, was stabbed to death on August 17, 1974 in a horror attack.

Mrs Irvine was found stabbed to death in the bedroom of her tenement flat in Paisley following a sadistic sexual assault.

Now, almost four decades later, police are examining the case again in the hope they will find a vital clue.

It is understood detectives from Paisley are looking over case notes for a fresh lead.

Witnesses who were interviewed 38 years ago are also being spoken to again.

A source said: "Detectives will quite often take a look at unsolved cases in the hope that new techniques or forensics will cast up something that hasn't been looked at before."