A torso has been found washed up on a beach. An angler spotted the human remains close to a sea wall in Bispham, on the Lancashire coast.

Police were unable to confirm the identity of the deceased or whether the remains were those of a man or a woman.

Officers were called after the discovery on Queens Promenade in Bispham, a mile north of Blackpool, on Sunday morning. The body part appeared to have been in the water for some time judging by the state of decomposition, locals said.

Officers from Lancashire police took the torso away for examination and an inquiry has been launched. A spokesman said: “Inquiries are ongoing to establish the identity of human remains that were found at a beach in Bispham.

“Officers were called at around 8.50am following a report that the remains of a body had been found by a member of the public on the beach near to the Cavendish Road area of Bispham. The remains were badly decomposed and inquiries are under way to establish who they belong to. A postmortem examination will take place in due course.”