Storm Arwen: Human remains found after gales uproot tree

The bone will be re-buried in a small ceremony, Lancaster Priory said

A human bone has been found in a priory churchyard after a tree was brought down in Storm Arwen.

The elm tree, which had stood in the grounds of Lancaster Priory for 240 years, came down during gusts reaching up to 100mph in parts of the UK.

The Vicar of Lancaster said the priory would work to identify the remains and inform relatives.

Rev Leah Vasey-Saunders said they would "re-bury the bone with dignity and a prayer".

Three people were killed and Forestry England said tens of thousands of trees were felled in Friday's extreme weather, with thousands of homes left without power for a sixth day.

There has been a "gaping hole" since the 240-year-old elm tree was uprooted, Rev Leah Vasey-Saunders says

Rev Vasey-Saunders told BBC Radio Lancashire it was a "great shame" the tree had toppled over as it had "survived so much", including outbreaks of Dutch elm disease.

"There's been such an outpouring of grief on social media and people ringing up to ask what are we going to do," she said.

The priory will now look to do something with the landscape as there was a "gaping hole where everybody's been used to walking under this tree", she added.

"We will try our best to contact any family, and then at an appropriate moment when the ground is cleared and the tree has been cleared away we'll bury the bone with dignity and with a prayer."

Lancaster Priory Church is a Grade I-listed building and Christians have worshipped there since Saxon times.

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