Tests to be carried out to determine how long human remains had been in old city centre churchyard

Tests are to be carried out to determine how long human remains had been in an old city centre churchyard, the Manchester Evening News understands.

The shocking discovery was made by electrical workers fixing a fault on Cathedral Street, outside Manchester Cathedral, on Monday afternoon (June 19).

The site is understood to have been the location of an old churchyard dating back hundreds of years and that the remains are not thought to be recent.

Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link

However it is understood testing will now be carried out to determine how long the remains had been at the site before they were discovered, which could take up to two months to complete. The discovery is not being treated as suspicious.

A workman had uncovered the remains whilst Electricity North West were repairing a fault on an underground cable in the area before notifying police immediately.

Police were initially called to the area at around 3.30pm on Monday (June 19) as officers and crime scene investigators were at the scene beside a forensics tent. A cordon remained in place throughout Tuesday morning (June 20).

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "At around 3:30pm on Monday 19 June 2023, police were called to Cathedral Street in Manchester to reports that human remains had been found. During work on an electrical fault, a workman uncovered what are believed to be human remains next to the Cathedral.

"Work was temporarily stopped whilst Crime Scene Investigators from GMP attended. The find is not being treated as suspicious."

A spokesperson for Electricity North West said: "Yesterday when repairing a fault on an underground electricity cable on Cathedral Street, an engineer discovered