A NORTH Yorkshire man who has been quizzed by police investigating the murder of a prostitute has said they are clutching at straws in trying to prove he is the killer.

Eric Coates spoke out after officers searched a nuclear bunker he owns near a picturesque North York Moors village.

He was arrested by Cleveland police last Wednesday and questioned in connection with murdered Middlesbrough prostitute Vicky Glass.

He was later released without charge on police bail.

Mr Coates, 47, declared his innocence exclusively to the Evening Press last Thursday, while openly admitting to paying for prostitutes.

He said he has visited the Middlesbrough red light areas for decades and knew the murdered girl, but believed her death was a drug-related killing.

As the search for clues to Ms Glass's murder continues, Cleveland Police raided his family home in Huby, and properties owned by the family in Scarborough.

During the raid at the home he shares with his retired parents in Oaktree Sawmills, Mr Coates said the police seized the keys to his nuclear bunker in Goathland he bought for £250 a few years ago.

He said: "I just thought it was interesting - it's in a nice piece of land."

The bunker is situated behind a small collection of homes on the hill above the main village of Goathland.

One neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said police visited the site at about 4pm last Wednesday, just hours after Mr Coates was arrested, and were looking in the field where the bunker is situated for an hour.

At the moment Cleveland police will only confirm that they have visited "a number of properties during the course of the murder inquiry".

But Mr Coates said they took a rope and twine, some Wellington boots and a brush from the 18ft by 10ft bunker. "There's not much in there anyway - I very rarely go up there. I don't know what they expected to find.

"The police are clutching at straws - but they think I'm the man they want."

His father, ex-North Yorkshire county councillor Raymond Coates, added: "They have made a mess at properties we own in Scarborough, slashed a bed and taken bed linen. They are obviously in a desperate search for girls' clothes.

"We are very angry about the mess they have made. Obviously we want the police to find her murderer, but my nightmare is that they won't get this straightened out."

Ms Glass's body was found in November 2000 at Danby, on the North York Moors. She had been missing from Middlesbrough for six weeks.

Mr Coates is due to report back to Northallerton police station in five weeks.

Updated: 09:16 Monday, January 14, 2002