A TEAM of Britain's foremost forensic scientists, said to be world leaders in DNA research, are to carry out new tests in the long-running hunt for the killer of County Durham housewife Ann Heron.

Nearly 17 years ago the body of Mrs Heron was found by her husband Peter lying in a pool of blood inside the couple's isolated home on the outskirts of Middleton-St-George near Darlington.

The 44-year-old, whose throat was slashed, had been sunbathing on what had been the hottest day of the summer of 1990.

In November, 2005, Mrs Heron's husband Peter was arrested by detectives from Durham who travelled to his home in Scotland.

The following day he was charged with her murder, however, three months later, on the advice of an eminent barrister engaged by the Crown, the case against Mr Heron, who is in his 70s, was discontinued.

Senior officers have, however, said proceedings could be re-started if new key evidence came to light. Full story and reaction in tomorrow's Northern Echo