Trained search dogs are being used to try and solve the mystery of three human feet discovered in the same area in England.

It is not thought the severed limbs found in Bath are linked to any crime, and police believe they may have come from a macabre private collection.

All the feet were found within a few hundred yards of each other in and around Weston Park in Bath, between February and July this year.

Investigations after the first discovery concluded that the foot was likely to have been an exhibit from a hospital or a school.

Avon and Somerset police expect ongoing tests on the other two to come to the same conclusion.

"We are confident no crime has been committed and strongly believe the feet have come from an old private collection," said temporary Detective Inspector Paul Catton.

"All three feet show signs they have come into contact with animals and it is likely that they have been moved to the locations they were found from a specific source."

"Regulations are significantly stricter these days compared to several decades ago and we believe the source is most probably someone who used the feet as a teaching aid."

Inspector Catton added that it was possible that the feet could have been innocently buried by someone trying to get rid of them, and then been dug up by animals.

"We believe someone knows something about where these feet have come from and would appeal for them to get in touch," he said.

Police with specially trained cadaver dogs are now searching the Weston Park area of the city, as well as the grounds of a nearby school.

"The school is in a central location to the sites were all three feet have been found and the last thing we want is for a member of the public to come across one of these unpleasant finds," Catton added.