The discovery of human bones on the site of a scrapyard in St Osyth, close to Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, are still being treated as “unexplained”.

A member of the public reported finding a number of bones at the scrapyard near to Cockett Wick Lane in St Osyth, close to Clacton-on-Sea, on Thursday, April 25.

Specialist officers continue to search the area after they found the majority of what is believed to be the skeleton of an elderly man.

First details of the discovery were released at the weekend and detectives are treating the death as unexplained as they search the Essex missing persons records, with a forensic examination of the bones taking place.

Michael Talbot, district and parish councillor for St Osyth, said: “It’s very strange. The scrapyard on the lane is the only this people refer to down there, there’s six or so houses further down but if people say Cockett Wick Lane, they mean the car breakers yard.

“It’s been there as long as I can remember, at least since the 60s when I came to Clacton for my holidays.

“There’s was planning permission put in to turn the yard into a holiday park, which might mean the bones were found when they started digging up parts of the grounds, but I really can’t speculate on that.”

The planning permission for the proposed holiday park was rejected by Tendring District council in 2017 on the grounds that the years in an area prone to flooding and that the plans did not set out adequate mitigating provisions.

The council set out that permission could still be granted for developments “ideally located in a wooded or undulating landscape”, but the scrapyard is surrounded by arable fields.

The circumstances surrounding the discovery of the bones is not yet known.