THE unearthing of what is thought to be human remains in a Tavistock garden last weekend was the second grisly find at the site.

A Spring Hill resident was digging in his garden on Saturday afternoon when he happened across fragments of a skull, jawbone and two femurs.

Police took the bones away and a Home Office pathologist is due to examine them today (Thursday) but the remains are thought to be ancient, unconnected with any recent crime.

Det Sgt Martin Glebe, of Tavistock CID, said: 'All the signs are that they are human remains and probably an adult.'

He said the find represented only a tiny proportion of the entire human skeleton, which he thought was a little odd.

'The whole situation is a bit strange. The fragments were not that deep, but that earth hadn't been touched for at least 17 years, since the current owners have lived there,' said DS Glebe.

The home-owner, who did not wish to be named, told the Times he had been lowering the levels of the soil in that part of his garden when he came across the remains at a depth of about 18 inches.

'We had already found what we believed were the bones of a horse — the building adjoining was a stable block, so it's quite possible that a horse was buried around the back.

'I was on the last stint digging up behind what used to be the stables. I put the pick in and pulled it back. The first thing I saw was the back of the skull. I thought "Christ, that's very human".

'I got a trowel and in the best traditions of "Meet the Ancestors" I found various other fragments and the jaw bone. When I saw that, I was even more convinced the bones were human.

'The skull was lying right on top of the leg bones. I removed all the soil very carefully and put the bones in my shed. I then, very carefully, teased around that area to see if there were any more, but there weren't. I guess they either weren't there in the first place or they had decomposed.'

He called a local vet who confirmed the bones were most likely human.

The police were called soon after.

Among the scenarios discussed was the possibility the bones were extremely old and had been unearthed more than 100 years previously when the stables were being built. They might then have been reburied where they were found this week.

Another possibility centred on the secondment to the nearby hospital of all the houses close by during the last war.

The resident said: 'One of the bones from the skull had a very clean cut in it, consistent with it being made in an autopsy. It may be they just buried the bodies where they could in those days.

'My main interest is to find out, if they are human, what was their origin — it's part of the interest in the property.'

It's not certain very much information will be gleaned from the bones — perhaps a rough date and maybe the gender of the person and their age.

The bones' finder said he thought it may have been a young person because the jaw was quite small. He said he had a certain amount of experience of skeletons since his uncle, as a joke, used to keep a skeleton in his closet!