A RETIRED policeman says he believes a woman whose body was found in North Yorkshire 32 years ago may have been murdered by the Yorkshire Ripper.

Chris Clark, formerly of Norfolk Police, says he thinks the unidentified body found at Sutton Bank in 1981 may be that of a murder victim, and he says it is one of 17 unsolved crimes he believes may have been committed by Peter Sutcliffe.

The find at Sutton Bank has come to be known as the “nude in the nettles” case. Police were called at 8am on August 28, 1981, and told by a well-spoken man where to find the body, but he would not give his name.

Mr Clark has compiled a dossier on many unsolved murders from 1968 to 1980 and says he plans to contact the relevant authorities with details.

He told The Press he had evidence suggesting Sutcliffe could have committed some of the crimes, due to their nature, location and timing, but he said that in the Sutton Bank case he had only a theory for now.

North Yorkshire Police said they had not been contacted by Mr Clark. The force made a renewed appeal in the Sutton Bank investigation in 2011, on the 30th anniversary of the find, and exhumed the body last year. Several families came forward believing they may be able to identify the woman, but attempts to identify her through DNA have come to nothing.