A POLICE officer has spoken of his frustration and sadness that a woman, found dead in a stream near Horton-in-Ribblesdale ten years ago, still remains unidentified.

It was on September 20, 2004, that the woman's body was discovered in Sell Gill Beck by walkers on the Pennine Way.

And, despite extensive inquiries that have spanned the globe, police are still unable to put a name to the woman, dubbed the Lady of the Hills.

Detective Chief Inspector Pete Martin, who was part of the original inquiry team, said the investigation would be the subject of a review.

He added: "To date no new lines of enquiry have been identified, but cases such as these are never formally closed and are subject to periodic reviews.

"I worked on the inquiry from the outset as a detective sergeant. We were satisfied from an early stage that the death was unexplained, as opposed to suspicious, and the focus of the investigation was to identify the lady so that we could inform her family.

"We pursed many different lines of inquiry to try to achieve this and it remains of source of frustration and sadness that we have been unsuccessful."

The woman was of Oriental extraction, was aged between 25 and 35, 4ft 11ins tall and weighed 10 stone.

But, a comprehensive trawl of missing person databases, inquiries with foreign embassies and anthropology, entomology and orthodontic tests failed to come up with any leads.

Even the cause of death is still a mystery as the initial post-mortem examination proved inclusive.

However medical expertsdid say they believed the woman was a non-smoker, right-handed, had been pregnant in the past and her growth had been stunted by a childhood disease such as measles.

The tragic tale touched the hearts of Horton-in-Ribblesdale residents and more than 40 people, including parish councillors, residents and police officers, attended a funeral service in September, 2007.

The parish council donated a burial plot in the graveyard at St Oswald's Church and, in 2012, residents raised money for a suitably worded memorial plaque.

Wilf Fenten, who was parish council chairman, said at the time: "We felt it was important to mark the grave in case her family were eventually found."