POLICE have destroyed evidence that could prove - or disprove - that "Wearside Jack" was a fellow officer.

Thousands of documents relating to potential suspects for the infamous Ripper Hoax have been shredded.

Last week, Doreen Hill, the mother of student Jacqueline, the Yorkshire Ripper's last victim, of Ormesby, Middlesbrough, called for a full inquiry into claims the hoaxer was a police officer.

Her call followed a claim from Dick Holland, who was second-in-command of the Ripper inquiry, that the ex-police officer, who was born and grew up in the North-East, was "the best suspect we ever had".

He said the police officer was interviewed and eliminated because three or four characters in the alphabet, as written in his police documents, did not perfectly match the same characters in the hoax letters.

But the former West Yorkshire police officer suspect, who was asked about the claim, said he was never interviewed about the hoax.

Hundreds of men in the North-East were only eliminated as suspects after their blood grouping was determined (Wearside Jack was of a rare blood group), their voice analysed and their handwriting compared.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "The records we had in relation to this no longer exist.

"All the material in relation to the letters and tape concerning people who were nominated as suspects has been destroyed. However, we are looking into the claims made."

Sunderland South MP Chris Mullin has written to the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, Colin Cramphorn, asking for the Ripper Hoax inquiry to be re-opened.

Wearside Jack sent three letters and an audio tape to police during 1978 and 1979 claiming to be the killer and police were convinced he was the Ripper. They switched their inquiries to the North-East for 18 months during which time Peter Sutcliffe killed three more women, including Miss Hill.