UNCLAIMED dead body cases in Devon and Cornwall are the fifth highest in the UK, figures have revealed.

The two counties force has 28 such unresolved matters on its books, says the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Statistics show that roughly 150 cases are reported across the country every year.

Around one in ten of the matters are reckoned to be crime-related.

Most cadavers are found by dog walkers, joggers or mushroom foragers, usually in autumn or late winter when foliage has died back.

After London, the areas with the most unidentified people cases are Sussex, with 52, Kent with 31, Essex, with 29 cases and then Devon and Cornwall.

The two counties have a disproportionately high body count because of the lengthy coastline.

‘Bodies not only wash up on the shore,’ explained the NCA, ‘but they also tend to be harder to identify because of the decomposition effects of sea water.’