THE uncle of murdered prostitute Tania Nicol has described his family's grief and shock at her death.Alhusain Nicol , 45, who lives in Brighton, said Tania had appeared fine and happy when she and her mother came to stay in Brighton in the summer.

THE uncle of murdered prostitute Tania Nicol has described his family's grief and shock at her death.

Alhusain Nicol , 45, who lives in Brighton, said Tania had appeared fine and happy when she and her mother came to stay in Brighton in the summer.

The 19-year-old vanished from the red light district of Ipswich on October 30. Her naked body was found in a pond at Copdock, near Ipswich, on December 8.

Tania grew up on a housing estate on the outskirts of Ipswich, where she lived with her mother and brother, now 16.

Mr Nicol said Tania's mother, his sister, had grown up in the house next door to where he now lives and had gone to school in the area.

She had moved to Suffolk with her boyfriend, Tania's father, when her daughter was a baby.

He said: “She was just a normal, loving family girl who got in with the wrong crowd I suppose.

“Her mother did not know what she was doing, she did not know until the police actually told her.

“Despite the label she has been given she was a nice girl. She is still someone's daughter, someone's niece and we are quite a close family.

“She came to stay during the summer. Her and her mum came down and all the family went to a club in Brighton.

“I would just remember her as a nice family girl. But once you get hooked on something that is it.

“If we had known, we would have helped her. At the moment we are all in shock and we do not know what to do yet.

“We are thinking of her mum and what she must be going through, losing a daughter.

“I think she probably had a bright future and if we had known we would have stopped what she was doing and made sure she was okay, but obviously it was too late to do that. “

Grandmother Dinah Thorpe, 53, lived near Tania in Ipswich and has known the family for more than 12 years.

The mother-of- five said: “I have known Tania since she was five. She was a lovely little girl. She used to walk by the side of me when we were coming home from school. I used to take her to school sometimes.

“She was just a nice little girl. They did have a hard time but she was always well spoken and was a lovely child.

Mrs Thorpe said she did not realise that Tania was a prostitute until she read a report about the teenager going missing.

She said: “I was a bit surprised. But I can understand how someone who has never had much could find it easy money.

“When I first heard she was missing I thought that something must have happened because they are a very close family and she is the sort of girl who would let her family know where she was.

“I can only really think of nice things to say about her and her mother. She was a lovely girl and she didn't deserve this.”