Human skulls deposited by badgers in Dudley garden

A woman has been left horrified by a steady supply of human remains left in her garden by badgers.

Ann Mathers, 88, lives behind a cemetery in Dudley and said the animals had been digging up bones from graves and leaving them for her to find.

The badgers have been accessing the graveyard outside Providence Baptist Church, in Woodsetton, through a public right of way.

Councillors and neighbours are calling for the alleyway to be shut.

Ms Mathers had called her daughter "in hysterics" after spotting a human skull in her garden, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Her daughter, Lorraine Lloyd, said police had cordoned off the property and treated the discovery as a crime scene.

"We didn't realise how much worse the situation was going to get," she said.

Ms Lloyd, 60, added: "Since then, she's been having femurs, skulls, the bottom part of a chin, jawbones, you name it coming into the garden.

"What you see is people's families, people's loved ones, it's horrific."

Councillor Shaz Saleem, cabinet member for highways and public realm, said the council had been working with the church to resolve the badger issue.

He said the public right of way was currently closed due to the situation.

Mr Saleem continued: "As badgers are a protected species, we are in the process of obtaining the services of a qualified ecologist to help us further."

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