Neighbours have spoken of their shock and horror following the murder of Sana Ali.

Sana was found in a first floor bedroom at the two-storey detached house on Friday afternoon. Sana, who married last December and was two months pregnant, was taken to Fairfield Hospital.

But she and her unborn baby but died a short time later.

Sana moved to England from Pakistan five years ago. She lived with her family at Cheadle Heath, Stockport, before marrying 24-year-old Sair Ali last December.

The couple had been betrothed to each other around nine years earlier.

She had begun a childcare course at Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College in September 2006 but left a short time later. She had intended to return to college after she had had her baby.

A spokeswoman for Cheadle and Hulme Sixth Form College paid tribute to the mum-to-be. She said: "Sana began a course in health and social care but only attended for a few weeks before leaving to get married in Pakistan. She was a conscientious, dignified, hard working student."

It was at 4.15pm on Friday that her bloodstained body was discovered by her sister-in-law in an upstairs room of the house she shared with her husband and his family.

There was no sign of a forced entry and nothing appeared to have been stolen. A post-mortem examination revealed that she had tried to defend herself.

Neighbours spoke of their shock that an incident could happen just yards from their front doors.

"You just don't expect it to happen in a quiet area like this," said one.

Another resident added: "One of my friends said that the only bad thing to happen round here is one burglary in the last 30 years."

One close neighbour said: "They were a very polite family, well mannered and decent people. Although we saw very little of them really, they were ideal neighbours, always very nice when you met them in the street."

Another man said: "We just knew them as nice neighbours. We bumped into each other from time to time, and they were quiet in their community. The extended family used to come here and have a festival twice a year, but apart from that, I've never seen more than a couple of people around the house."

A single bouquet of flowers in memory of Sana was placed on Tuesday against a wall on the driveway.

By Terry Morgan