AN investigation has been launched into how forensic evidence came to be dumped by the sackful in a town centre alleyway.

The refuse, including DNA swabs, body and paint samples and fingerprints, was found discarded in more than a dozen evidence bags.

Council officials in Middlesbrough say environmental enforcement officers found the forensic material, along with personal information in regards to police procedure, in an alleyway in the town's Gresham area.

A spokesman said the discovery came as a shock to council officials who called in Cleveland Police.

The spokesman said: "The council received a call from a householder in Crescent Road complaining about a load of plastic bin liners strewn about the place.

"Council officers went to inspect, on the assumption someone had been cleaning out their house. They did not expect to find police evidence bags."

He added: "There was correspondence with a name and address, from a flat in Borough Road, which was subsequently found to be a University of Teesside student who had gone away for the summer, but had been studying forensic science and was no longer in the area.

"We called the police and community police support officers to take away their property. Clearly, it was subsequently more a serious situation than we anticipated and the police are investigating. Inquiries are ongoing.''

The council understands Cleveland Police are considering prosecuting the individual responsible for the dumping - a student of forensic biology.

When police were in the alleyway, they recognised the registration plate of a stolen Renault van coming towards them.

On seeing the officers, the occupants of the van drove off at speed, eventually abandoning the vehicle and switched to a Transit van, which police pursued and eventually stopped. Three people were arrested on suspicion of burglary.

The council is waging a war against fly-tipping across the town, promising to sweep clean every street in Gresham - where the swabs were found - wipe away graffiti and remove abandoned vehicles.

Cleveland Police and Fire Brigade had already been hard at work in the neighbourhood, which suffers a disproportionate amount of crime and deliberate fires.