Friendly, unaffected, lovely, always pleasant . . . these were the words with which friends and acquaintances described murdered mother Rachel Nickell today.

The blonde, part-time model was strikingly good-looking, with natural poise and charm. She was ‘the kind of woman whose looks stopped people in their tracks’, recalled a neighbour.

Fitness fanatic Rachel, 23, followed a regular routine of swimming, walking on Wimbledon Common or playing tennis. At the local leisure centre, where she swam two or three times a week and took son Alex to the mother and baby swimming group, her beauty made sure she stood out from the crowd. ‘She had this great self-confidence,’ said assistant manager, Jacek Kaldonek.

‘Although she had a tremendous physique, she was never one to flaunt herself. I’m sure she knew she was attractive, but you would never see her flirting or anything like that.

‘She was always smiling and she was an excellent swimmer. A lovely, unaffected sort of person.’

Rachel, daughter of well-off parents from Bedfordshire, dropped out of university early and never completed her degree. The social services would no doubt describe her as an unmarried mother, but she was in a loving, stable relationship with Andre Hanscombe.

Mr Hanscombe, 29, a dispatch rider, is hard-working, good-looking, a talented semi-professional tennis player, who one day hopes to turn pro, said neighbours.

The couple behaved like newly-weds, openly affectionate in public. ‘They were close, they were in love,’ said the manager of Bucci’s Italian restaurant in Balham, where they would eat once a week.

‘They used to kiss and hold hands. They were always looking into each other’s eyes.’

Friends said Rachel was a devoted mother to Alex. She chose to give birth at home, and afterwards, her career took second place.

Elderly neighbour Walentina Korzeniowska recalled: ‘I stopped her in the street once to tell her her boy was the most beautiful child in London. She was the sort of woman you wanted to say things like that to.’ Child-minder Lorna Wilkes would help Rachel out, looking after Alex when she went on modelling assignments. ‘She was a kind, lovely person,’ said Lorna. ‘She and Andre were devoted to each other.’

Rachel, Andre, Alex and their mongrel Molly lived in the smarter end of Tooting in an £85,000 modernised two-bedroom flat in Elmfield Mansions, a well-maintained block.

Estate manager Mr Shanti Shah said the flat was under offer, and the sale is going through. ‘They wanted to live in the country,’ he added. Today the curtains of the third floor flat were drawn behind the window box overflowing with flowers which Rachel had carefully tended. The couple weren’t well off, but had a Volvo and had recently tidied up another car, ready to sell.

Rachel’s parents are not even here to hear the news and take some small comfort from their son, Mark, 25, who is studying to be a vet at London University.

Andrew Nickell, 50, and his wife Monica, 48, left for Canada yesterday to visit Andrew’s sister.

They have a £250,000 modern detached house in the Bedfordshire village of Ampthill, where Rachel and Andre had recently visited them.

In the tree-lined street with carefully manicured lawns and well-tended potted shrubs, Rachel’s parents are respected and admired. ‘They are the kindest couple. There’s nothing in the world they wouldn’t do for anybody,’ said one neighbour.

This gentlest of couples will learn over the phone of their only daughter’s murder, and will then have to return home to see their grandchild, still so deep in shock after witnessing his mother’s killing that he cannot speak.

An elderly neighbour of Rachel’s parents paid her tribute. ‘Rachel was a happy-go-lucky girl. She was full of life, very beautiful.’