The mother of a woman allegedly murdered has said she had concerns about the couple looking after her.

Margaret Cruickshanks, 71, said that until police launched a missing persons investigation in 2016 she thought her daughter Margaret Fleming was "getting on with her life and enjoying herself".

Today, Ms Cruickshanks told the High Court in Glasgow: "I never thought anything like this had happened."

Edward Cairney, 76, and Avril Jones, deny murdering Ms Fleming at an address in Inverkip, Renfrewshire, between December 18, 1999 and January 5, 2000.

Ms Fleming, who would now be 37, has allegedly not been seen for more than 18 years.

Miss Cruickshanks said that after Ms Fleming's father Derek died in 1995, Cairney and Jones volunteered to help care for her.

They had Ms Fleming, who was on benefits for a learning disability, to stay at their home in Inverkip for days at a time.

Prosecutor Iain McSporran QC asked: "Did you have any concerns about their ability to look after Margaret?"

Ms Cruickshanks replied: "I did, but I did everything I could."

She sobbed in court as she told the prosecutor of going to the couple's house to collect Ms Fleming and being told she was not going home with her.

Ms Cruickshanks told the court she thought it was November 1996, but Mr McSporran said police had noted the date as November 26, 1997.

The witness told the court she and Cairney had words and added: "He wouldn't let me take her home. He actually threw me up against a wardrobe. He put his hands round my throat and started to spit on me."

Ms Cruickshanks claimed Ms Fleming witnessed the altercation, but told her mother she wanted to stay with the accused.

The jury heard that Ms Cruickshanks reported this to the police and said she wanted to be sure that Margaret was happy there.

The police who spoke to Ms Fleming said she wanted to stay with Cairney and Jones.

Ms Fleming's bedroom was believed to be upstairs in a small attic room with a bed and a table.

The jury were shown photographs of the house taken in November 2016 which show both the attic rooms covered in clutter and neither had a bed.

Earlier in her evidence, Ms Cruickshanks revealed Ms Fleming had a temper and said: "She took all her anger out on me."

So when Cairney and Jones, who were friends of her late husband, volunteered to provide respite care and take Ms Fleming for a week at a time, she accepted their help.

Ms Cruickshanks was later quizzed about a possible sighting of her daughter with Cairney at a supermarket.

The witness told Cairney's QC Thomas Ross that she "thought it was Margaret", but could not remember if it was as recently as 2013 or 2014.

Jurors heard Ms Fleming was aged five when her parents split.

Ms Cruickshanks moved out while Ms Fleming stayed with her father.

The couple later divorced and when her dad died, Ms Fleming was then initially looked after by her grandparents.

The trial before judge Lord Matthews continues.