The National Police in Alicante are investigating the discovery of a skull found inside a plastic bag and dumped in a rubbish container late on Wednesday afternoon. The find was made by a man who was scavaging in the dustbin when he found a bag of skeletal remains. He immediately called the police.

The bones have been transferred to the Forensic Anatomical Institute in the city for analysis.

According to police sources, however, the coroner has confirmed that it is a human skull and that it is a person of advanced age who died many years ago, facts that would seem to out any crime.

Having confirmed the existence of the skull the National Police assigned officers to guard the rubbish container until the arrival of the Judicial Police and forensic officers.

The bag containing the suspicious remains was eventually taken away by a funeral van which transferred it to the Forensic Anatomical Institute to confirm that it was actually human remains.

The agents searched the container as they looked for more remains that might have been deposited in different bags, however nothing else was found. 

During the early evening the coroner confirmed that it was a human skull. However, tests revealed that the remains were those of a person of advanced age and who died many years ago.

The police are now trying to establish the identity of the skull and find out who threw the bag in the dustbin.

Workers at the Xixona wasted disposal plant had a similar scare earlier in the year when a human skull was found inside a rubbish bag that had been thrown into the bin in Ibi. The Civil Guard said that all indications pointed to the skull being used for medical studies.