River remains not human, say Crossbow Cannibal police

More on the Bradford killings, with video

Forensic tests on the matter found in the river at Shipley revealed it was animal and not human.

Meanwhile, forensic tests continued on a hacksaw and several knives discovered in a black bag which was pulled out of the river over the weekend near to where the remains of vice girl Suzanne Blamires were found.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Further forensic examinations on remains recovered this weekend show they are not human but animal waste which appears to be from food preparation."

The remains were recovered on Saturday from the river, a short distance from where the body parts of Ms Blamires had been dumped.

Stephen Griffiths, 40, who referred to himself in court as the "Crossbow Cannibal", has been charged with murdering 36-year-old Ms Blamires. He is also accused of killing Shelley Armitage, 31, and Susan Rushworth, 43, whose bodies have not been found.

A senior police source said: "We are waiting for the black bag to dry out. We have to take our time and allow it to dry naturally. At the moment it's not possible to say that it is automatically linked to our enquiries.

"Something like 50 detectives and 70 search officers are working on this inquiry at the moment and on top of that there is scientific support.''

Asked how many sites were being searched in the city, he said: "We may end up with over 100 sites but we are nowhere near that figure at present.

"We are reasonably confident we have got virtually all the parts belonging to Suzanne and our efforts are now directed towards tracing Shelley and Susan.''

Officers from West Yorkshire Police's Underwater Search Unit are continuing to search the water. Police were also continuing to search areas of Bradford city centre, including examining excavations carried out by utility companies.