LOVED ones of Sian O’Callaghan face a 400-mile round trip if they are to attend a crucial hearing in her murder case today.

Sian’s family will have to travel almost 200 miles from Swindon to Preston in Lancashire as Christopher Halliwell, who stands accused of killing the 22-year-old more than a year ago, is set to make an appearance for a legal argument hearing.

The mini-cab driver, 48, last appeared at Bristol Crown Court last month as barristers discussed a variety of intense legal arguments.

Halliwell, of Ashbury Avenue, Nythe, has yet to enter a plea to the charge.

It comes more than a year after office worker Sian was last seen alive leaving Suju nightclub, in High Street, Old Town, on March 19 last year.

The disappearance sparked a major missing persons hunt and hundreds of volunteers turned out at Savernake Forest to help in the search, but police later found Sian’s body at Uffington, Oxfordshire, on March 24.

At its peak, 150 police officers were involved in the investigation and the family paid emotional public tributes.

The inquiry sparked a mass outpouring of grief and led to several vigils and memorials for popular local girl Sian, with mourners turning out in their hundreds for her funeral procession through the town.

Members of her family, including her mother Elaine and her partner Pete Shawe, were expected to be in court today for the preliminary hearing.

Prosecutor Ian Lawrie QC and Halliwell’s defence barrister Richard Latham QC engaged in a day of legal arguments last month and Mrs Justice Cox is now expected to deliver a ruling over this.

Restrictions on what can be reported from all hearings prior to the trial have been put in place by a judge.