HOW did the body of a man come to be buried in unconsecrated ground near to Tavistock Hospital some 60 years ago?

That is the puzzling question that has been raised by the disinterment of parts of a skull and thigh bones in a Spring Hill garden last week.

Police pathologist Dr Gyan Fernando reported this week that it was very difficult accurately to date the bones because of their condition, but he said the body had been subject to a post-mortem examination, evidenced by cuts in the skull, which he dated at around the second world war. He said it was unlikely the bones were very much older and most likely not from before the 20th century.

Because of the autopsy marks, Dr Fernando ruled out any foul play, but that does not detract from the mystery.

None of the local historians contacted by the Times was able to offer any suggestions as to how the man came to be buried in the area, nor why his remains were reburied where they were found last week — nor, of course, who he might have been in life.