THE ashes of Lucie Blackman, the Kent woman murdered in Tokyo four years ago, will be buried at a private family service in Seal, near Sevenoaks this afternoon.

The 21-year-old from Sevenoaks was working in a nightclub in the Japanese capital when she vanished in July 2000.

Her dismembered body was found in a beach-side cave the following February.

The ceremony at St Peter and St Paul Church will be attended by her father Tim Blackman, 51, her mother Jane Steare, 51, brother Rupert, 22, and sister Sophie, 24. It will be led by the Rev Keith Blackburn.

Lucie's body was returned to the UK in February 2001 and a service attended by hundreds of mourners was held that March.

The trial of the man accused of her rape and murder, Joji Obara, is continuing in Japan. He denies the killing.