Two Lithuanian men, aged 19 and 40, were arrested on Friday and were being questioned by Tayside Police over the gruesome discovery.

The woman, whose remains were found on a beach in Arbroath earlier this week, was named as 35-year-old Jolanta Bledaite, of Alytus, Lithuania.

The victim had been living in Brechin, Angus, and was reported missing by her employer. Her father was told of her death on Friday.

Sarunas Bledaitis, 60, said his daughter had been in Scotland to help pay medical bills for his cancer treatment.

He told the Daily Record newspaper: "I hoped at first they had the wrong person.

"She went abroad, first to Ireland then to Scotland, to earn money for all of us.

"Now I'm too ill to move or leave Lithuania. There is no-one to bring her body back. We are very poor. She was so hard-working."

He said he agreed to let her come to the UK because he thought Britain was a better place for her to earn money and was "very safe".

Investigations to try to establish Ms Bledaite's last movements would continue, police said.