BODY PARTS MURDER CLUES ADDING UP

It is "highly likely" that a right leg, found near a Hertfordshire lay-by, belonged to the same man whose severed head, leg and arm were found separately over the last 17 days.

Police now know the man had eczema, discoloured and curled under toenails and had lost his front teeth several years before.

A full DNA profile has been obtained from post-mortem examinations but detectives are yet to trace the victim on the missing persons register.

Asked if they were investigating the possibility that the man had been homeless, a Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit spokeswoman said: "We couldn't speculate on that. Missing persons records are being checked from across the country at present."

The murder inquiry was sparked when a left leg and attached foot were found in a green holdall in a lay-by on the A507 in Cottered, Hertfordshire, on March 22.

On March 29, the arm, dismembered at the elbow and wrist, was discovered on a grass verge in Wheathampstead, about a 40-minute drive from Cottered.

Last Tuesday afternoon, in Asfordby, Leicestershire - about 95 miles from Wheathampstead via the M1 and the A606 - the head was discovered. This time it was a farmer on his own land who made the shocking find.

The man was white or Asian and between 5ft 6in and 5ft 10in. His shoe size is believed to be between seven and nine.

Now results are awaited to establish that the right leg - found near the A10 Puckeridge bypass on Wednesday afternoon - is linked to the inquiry.