Around 150 mourners gathered at a tiny village church today for the funeral of an elderly couple found murdered in their home.

Mourners packed St Mary's church in Strensall, near York, to pay their last respects to retired British Rail surveyor James Britton, 80, and his wife Joan, 82.

Their bodies were found in their large detached house in Strensall on July 18. The housebound couple, who had been married for more than 50 years, had been stabbed and beaten, police said.

Among the mourners attending today were the couple's daughters Catharine and Anne, along with the senior investigating officer Detective Chief Superintendent Javad Ali.

The Reverend Martin Harrison, vicar of Strensall, told the mourners the couple had been taken away in a ''cruel'' manner. He added: ''Their deaths and the manner of their deaths brought both shock and horror not only to their family but to the wider community.''

He described how the couple met in Hartlepool and married in 1943. Towards the end of the Second World war Joan joined the ATS while her husband joined the RAF where he flew Spitfires.

Mr Britton went on to study chartered surveying and eventually became a British Rail surveyor and valuer. His wife worked at a local school as a secretary, mourners heard.

The vicar said the couple were quiet and well respected in the community where Mr Britton was well known as a passionate bee keeper who sold honey from the gates of his home and was known as Mr B the Bee Man.

A wreath was sent by the parents of twin sisters Claire and Diane Sanderson offering their condolences. The 27-year-old sisters were discovered dead on the same day.

Former dustman Mark Hobson, 34, of Selby, North Yorkshire, has been charged with murdering the Brittons and the sisters and is due to appear before a judge at Leeds Crown Court later this year for a plea and direction hearing.