Body found near Lancashire Conservative club where dog walker discovered human leg

Police say it could belong to missing father Heath Nield, 31

The body was found near the Healey Conservative Club (Google Streetview)

A body has been found near the site where a dog walker found a human leg behind a Conservative club in Lancashire.

Police started combing a disused quarry and countryside near the Healey Conservative Club in Whitworth, near Rochdale, yesterday after the grim find.

The body has not been formally identified but police said there was a "strong possibility" it belonged to 31-year-old Heath Nield.

The father-of-four, who worked as a joiner, went missing from his home in nearby Bacup in July.

His family have been made aware of the find and further forensic tests are being carried out.

While appealing for Mr Nield to get in contact in August, his brother Jon Nield, 44, described him as a "loving, caring lad".

“If he could just text us or call us, anything, and just say ‘don't worry about me, I'm okay’ then that would be enough," he told the Lancashire Telegraph.

Police launched several witness appeals to trace Mr Nield in July and August following his disappearance and a "Where's Heath Nield" Facebook group was set up co-ordinating efforts to find him.

Post by Where's Heath Nield.

Operations continued in Whitworth, a picturesque town in the foothills of the Pennines, on Monday.

Officers had been called shortly before 2.45pm on Sunday to reports of a human leg found on land behind the Conservative Club.

“Police searched the area to locate further body parts and the rest of the body was found nearby," a spokesperson for Lancashire Police said.

"Police are in the process of recovering the body which appears to have been there for some time and is badly decomposed.

"While formal identification has not yet been carried out police believe there is a strong possibility that the body is that of Heath Nield, 31, who went missing from his home in Rochdale Road, Bacup in July.

"Mr Nield's family have been made aware of the latest development."