Police were called to a Copeland village last night after a member of the public made an unusual discovery.

Officers responded to a report that a body part, which was possibly part of a human foot, had been found on the path behind the Wastewater Treatment Works on Foundry Road, Parton, shortly after 7.20pm.

Speaking last night, a spokesman said officers had recovered a partial body part but it was too early to say whether it belonged to a human or animal.

A spokesman said the discovery would be passed on, via crime scene investigators, to a pathology lab for tests to confirm its origin.

Today, a spokeswoman said: "Police were called at 7:22pm on January 4 to the report of an unidentified item found on the beach at Parton.

"The item is not part of a human anatomy, and the situation is not currently being treated as suspicious. The item has been sent for analysis as a precaution."

Officers have carried out a search around the area where the discovery was made.