POLICE have got a mystery they can really get their teeth into after a villager made an unusual discovery.

Police in Barnard Castle, County Durham, are trying to trace the owner of a black handbag found in a garden in the village of Cockfield.

But the only means of identification is the upper palate of a set of false teeth found in the bag.

The discovery was made by hairdresser Nigel Dowson in his garden, in Front Street. Mr Dowson, who runs Jigsaw Hairdressing in Darlington, believes the bag can only have been in his garden for a couple of days.

But nobody in the village has any idea who the handbag's owner might be.

Mr Dowson said: "There was a lady a few months ago who got her bag stolen and that got recovered and everybody knew about it, but nobody's mentioned this.

"I rang the police and they asked me to have a look to see if there was any identification. I was looking in it and pulled away and said 'My god, there's some teeth in there'.

"They wanted me to look around a bit more. I said 'You're joking I'm not looking any further'.

"When the policeman came to collect the bag he actually pulled on some rubber gloves to look inside.

"He asked me if I wanted to claim it if nobody comes forward. I said not likely."

Anyone with information about the teeth or bag is asked to call Barnard Castle police on 0845 60 60 365.