TWO Lithuanian men were arrested today following the discovery of a woman's severed head and hands on a beach.

The woman, whose remains were found on a beach in Arbroath, has been named as 35-year-old Jolanta Bledaite, from Alytus, Lithuania.

Tayside Police said the men, aged 19 and 40, were arrested this morning but have not been charged.

The victim was a migrant worker who lived in Brechin, Angus, and was reported missing by her employer.

The woman's father was told of her death today.

Police said that despite the arrests the investigation was continuing to establish the woman's last movements.

Around 50 officers are working on the inquiry and a forensic search of the property where she lived was due to resume this afternoon.

Detective Chief Inspector Graham McMillan, the officer in charge of the inquiry, said: "While we have two men in custody, we will be working diligently to establish the full circumstances surrounding Jolanta's death.

"This is a tragic incident involving a woman who came to Scotland seeking a better life.

"I'm determined to make sure justice is served not only for Jolanta, but for her family too."

Police are liaising with Lithuanian authorities and a specially trained police family liaison officer has been appointed.

Ms Bledaite's head, wrapped in a plastic bag, was discovered by two sisters, aged eight and 11, as they played on a beach in nearby Arbroath on Tuesday morning.

Officers searching the shoreline then found two hands.

Possible further human remains were undergoing forensic examination following a discovery by coastguards along the coast at Carnoustie.

An appeal for information led to hundreds of calls from members of the public and police issued an artist's impression of the dead woman.

A flat in Earlsden House, in Brechin's Southesk Street, was sealed off by officers, who spent yesterday searching the property.

The building houses migrant workers from Eastern Europe.

Officers were also guarding a flat in Hill View Street, Brechin.

Police said Ms Bledaite, whose identity was established after hundreds of calls from the public, was a foreign national and had been in the UK for 18 months, working as a casual labourer.

The Angus area is popular with Eastern Europeans seeking fruit-picking jobs and other labouring work.