A FAMILY convinced that a mystery body found 21 years ago is their missing mum are pressing for an exhumation.

Lily Jones made the plea after police decided to drop investigations into the case.

As reported in the Bolton Evening News last week Mrs Jones, who lives in Pinner, Middlesex, is convinced that a partially mummified body found in the 1982 in house in Bromwich Street is her mum, Ruth Hanratty.

Despite extensive police investigations at the time the dead woman was never identified and she was eventually buried in a common grave in Heaton Cemetery.

Mrs Hanratty ran away several times from her Merseyside home in the 1960s and had once been traced to Bolton by Lily's dad. Police agreed to look again at the case, but have now decided that, as there was no suggestion of the woman dying as a result of a crime, they will not be taking it any further.

It is now left to Mrs Jones and her husband, retired police sergeant Ken Jones, to apply for an exhumation.

But even that is not straight forward. Since the woman's body was buried, three adults and four children have been buried on top of her. They were people whose families could either not be identified or could not afford a funeral so Bolton social services funded the burial.

In order to have the mystery woman's body exhumed for DNA tests to prove whether she is Mrs Hanratty, the other bodies would have to be removed as well.

They are buried on consecrated ground so a petition would have to be made to the Church of England's Manchester Diocese Consistory Court for permission to exhume and if any of the families of the other people buried in the grave object then it cannot go ahead.

Cost is also a factor as an exhumation would cost the Jones' at least £4,000.

Mr Jones says he is disappointed by the police decision not to take the case any further and plans to write to the Chief Constable Mike Todd in a bid to get the decision reversed.

"I am absolutely astounded that they say it is not a police matter," he said. "In my opinion it should be."

But he added that they are determined to continue trying to get an exhumation.

"We can't just leave it open ended. We are convinced this is my wife's mum. We are going to have to keep going, even if it means us going into debt. I would rather spend the money to resolve this than spend the next 20 years not knowing."