Police dogs used in bones search

The dogs were used to search the local area

A search for human remains on the banks of the River Severn in south Wales has been carried out by police after a pair of trainers containing human bones were washed up in the area last weekend.

Specially trained dogs from the Search and Rescue Dog Association were brought in to search the coast at Sudbrook in Monmouthshire under the Second Severn Crossing.

A link to missing Manic Richey Edwards has been ruled out

But Gwent Police have said the search across the area has so far proved unsuccessful.

Officers now hope that DNA taken from the feet will eventually lead them to indentification.

On Thursday, police confirmed that the trainers had no link to missing Manic Street Preachers singer Richey Edwards.

Detectives established that the blue and white Diadora trainers, which were found by anglers near the Second Severn Crossing, were in fact sold in 2001.

This discovery ruled out any connection with Mr Edwards who went missing in February 1995.

Two weeks after he walked out of a London hotel room, his Vauxhall Cavalier was found abandoned at motorway services near to the Old Severn Bridge, not far from his hometown.

Speculation that the had jumped into the river was rife.

Foot remains

The trainers were discovered last Saturday evening by fishermen on the banks of the Severn at Sudbrook between Newport and Chepstow.

They spotted one shoe and on looking closer saw a sock and bones inside.

They called Gwent Police who searched the area the following morning and found the matching trainer - it also contained the remains of a foot.

Since then, detectives have been working with the Missing Persons Bureau in London, examining all reports of disappearances in the Gwent area.

The trainers and human remains are currently being analysed by a pathologist.

It is believed the shoes - dislodged from the rest of the remains due to decomposition- had been in the water for some time and were dislodged by recent high tides.