BEMUSED shoppers and workers were stopped in their tracks when they saw a coffin in a skip.

It was found among a pile of rubbish off Bradshawgate, Bolton. But within hours of this picture being taken, it had disappeared, adding to the mystery.

Nearby shop workers say the rubbish in the skip was thrown out by staff at the pub Corks, which has now closed.

But no-one appears to know how the coffin got there, who owned it - or who took it away.

Initial suspicions were that it was owned by Ye Olde Man and Scythe pub which held its own funeral "ceremony" to commemorate the life of 46-year-old poet John Gilroy, also known as John Jellyhead, who died in hospital after an illness.

The ceremony had centred around a full-size cardboard coffin, decorated with photographs, flowers and messages of remembrance, but the pub still has the coffin.

Landlord John Jewitt said: "This coffin in the skip has nothing to do with us."

The coffin even has the police baffled. A spokesman said: "We are unaware of this."

The only clue comes from the menswear shop, Norton Barrie, which is next door to Corks.

A staff member said: "The pub staff were throwing stuff out earlier this week and we did later see the coffin in the skip. But we have no idea where it has gone. It's a real mystery."

Do you know the whereabouts of the coffin or how it got onto the skip? What was it used for? Write to: Letters, Bolton Evening News, Newspaper House, Churchgate, Bolton, BL1 1DE.