AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after three human feet were found in a Somerset park.

Avon and Somerset Police have been scouring Weston Park after three dismembered feet were found in a seven-month period within metres of each other.

Police are now renewing their appeal for information as they continue their enquiries.

The first foot was found in Weston Park East in February while the second and third were discovered in private gardens on Weston Park and Cranwells Park in July and August respectively.

Following a comprehensive investigation it was concluded that the first foot was more than likely to be an exhibit from a medical or educational establishment and was not the result of a crime.

It is anticipated enquiries into the second and third foot, which are still undergoing tests, are likely to come to the same conclusion.

The same officers are looking into the latest discoveries and will look to confirm beyond all reasonable doubt that they are linked and whether there are any new lines of enquiry which can help identify where the feet have come from.

As part of the investigation police searched Weston Park East in addition to the grounds of a nearby school using specially trained search dogs yesterday.

T/DI Paul Catton said: “We are confident no crime has been committed and strongly believe the feet have come from an old private collection.

“All three feet show signs they have come into contact with animals and it is likely that they have been moved to the locations they were found from a specific source.

“Regulations are significantly stricter these days compared to several decades ago and we believe the source is most probably someone who used the feet as a teaching aid.

“It is also possible these feet may have been found by someone who has then innocently buried them in an attempt to dispose of them and they have then been unearthed by animals, or that animals have disturbed the location they were stored.

“We believe someone knows something about where these feet have come from and would appeal for them to get in touch.”

He added: “When the first foot was found officers, along with cadaver dogs, carried out an extensive search of the immediate area.

“However, as we believe animals are moving these feet we cannot be sure that nothing has been deposited in the area since and so we are rechecking.

“We are also now searching the rest of Weston Park East along with the grounds of the school.

“The school is in a central location to the sites where all three feet have been found and the last thing we want is for a member of the public to come across one of these unpleasant finds.”