A WOMAN has told a court how she thought it was "irregular" when she saw a man in dark clothes walking close to where Elaine Doyle's body was discovered.

Samantha Nicol, 44, told the High Court in Edinburgh that the man spent approximately half an hour in Ardgowan Street, Greenock, in the early hours of June 2, 1986.

Ms Nicol told the court that she saw the man walking "up and down" the street hours before 16-year-old Elaine's remains were discovered in a lane off the thoroughfare.

Ms Nicol, who used to live in Greenock and is now in Motherwell, told advocate Donald Findlay QC: "It just seemed irregular."

She was testifying in the trial of 49-year-old John Docherty, who denies murdering Elaine in June 1986.

Ms Nicol told Mr Findlay, representing Docherty, that she was watching a movie called California Suite on TV when her Alsatian dog Butch started growling.

She went to the window of her parents home and saw the man walking along the street.

She said: "I looked out the window. There was someone in dark clothing walking up and down the street."

Ms Nicol thought the man was looking for the number of a house in the street. She added: "He was just walking and looking."

The court later heard that Ms Nicol gave a statement to police on Sunday June 8 1986.

In the statement, Ms Nicol told officers that the man had a "good build" and had broad shoulders.

Docherty, now of Dunoon, denies murder and claims that at the time he is alleged to have strangled Elaine, he was with his parents in Greenock.

The trial continues.