A wealthy Southall businessman killed his wife and drew up a macabre list of methods to dispose of her body, a court heard this week.

Martin Hale, 51, murdered wife Maureen, 42, after a row at their Surrey home more than nine years ago and her body has never been found, a jury was told.

A list found in his briefcase listed various ways to dispose of a body, including 'at sea, by fire, by acid and landsite', jurors at Kingston Crown Court heard.

In the days after the murder on June 22, 1999, Hale borrowed a shovel and a car from an employee at the Western International Market in Southall.

He also visited a friend, who worked at a local pet cemetery, and offered him £20,000 to privately hire the incinerator just one month after Maureen's disappearance, the court heard.

Crispin Aylett QC, prosecuting, said: "Once he killed her, he must have found some way to conceal her body in the short-term."

Mr Aylett told jurors Hale later decided a shallow grave was not sufficient and looked for more permanent ways to dispose of her body.

The Hales were married in 1985 and had four children - two boys and two girls. Mrs Hale had an older son from a previous marriage.

Ten months before her disappearance, Hale beat his wife and left her with a bloody nose after finding out she had a romantic tryst with an old friend, the court heard.

He moved out of the family home in Thames Ditton after the assault but had moved back in by Christmas 1998. By Easter the following year, Maureen had started divorce proceedings.

The court heard that on the day of the murder, Hale returned from work at Western International Market at 2pm.

The couple argued and hours later, Maureen vanished, taking no money or belongings and leaving behind her "four children who she adored', it was said.

Hale later claimed to police that she had told him she was going out at around 10pm that night and had never returned.

The day after his wife vanished, Martin Hale got his children ready for school before taking the day off work, a court heard.

Hale did not report his wife missing until three days later, on Friday June 25 1999.

A note found by police in Hale's briefcase revealed he was angry at the "financial consequences" of the divorce, the court heard.

Hale, of Embercourt Road, Thames Ditton, was charged with murder in June last year. He denies the charge.

The trial continues.