Bones found on beach are human, police confirm

Police were called to Roker Beach twice after receiving reports possible human remains were found

Bones found on a Sunderland beach have been confirmed as human, police have revealed.

Officers are investigating three reports of "suspected human remains" discovered over the last two months.

The first was made at Roker Beach in February, with the most recent at Seaburn Beach on Friday.

Tests found some of the bones on one of the beaches were human, and Northumbria Police is treating the discoveries as "unexplained".

The force added it was keeping an open mind as to whether the discoveries were linked.

"We have received reports of bones or suspected body parts being found at Seaburn and Roker beaches in Sunderland over recent weeks," a spokesperson said.

"We have now confirmed that some of these are human and we are currently treating the discoveries as unexplained."

The first discovery was made in February when "suspected human remains" were found in Roker.

The remains were discovered in Marine Walk, which overlooks the beach.

Less than a month later, a member of the public found suspected bones on the same stretch of coastline.

The bones were found the day after a flood warning had been put in place due to bad weather.

The final discovery was made on Friday in Seaburn, after a member of the public found "suspected remains" near Queen's Parade, shortly before 13:30 GMT.