A CORONER admitted yesterday he had no option but to record an open verdict into the mysterious death of a well-dressed man, found on a North Yorkshire moor.

An inquest was reconvened at Richmond Town Hall yesterday, more than six years after the skeletal remains were found on Thorny Grane Moor, a few miles from the hamlet of Colsterdale, by a gamekeeper from Masham's Swinton Estate.

North Yorkshire Coroner Geoff Fell heard that despite extensive inquiries and appeals in the media, detectives were still no closer to identifying the body. A police file will remain open and a tooth has been retained for DNA comparisons, but Mr Fell said there appeared to be little immediate hope of solving the mystery.

"I began this inquest by indicating that it would need to establish who this man was, where he came from and how he died but, sadly, we are no closer to finding answers to any of those questions," said Mr Fell. "As a result, I cannot come to any meaningful conclusions and must, therefore, record an open verdict."

Written evidence read at yesterday's hearing revealed gamekeeper Christopher Dawes knew there were shards of bone on the site where the body was found for as long as four years but never investigated further as he presumed they were the remains of a dead sheep.

It was only when natural erosion exposed more of the body that he took a closer look and made the grisly find in May 1997.

The extent of decay and items found on the body, including a shilling dated 1958 and a penny dated 1971, suggest Colsterdale Man, who is believed to have been white and in his sixties, may have died as long as 25 years ago.

A theory that he was a tramp was apparently confounded by forensic evidence which showed he was wearing a dark grey, two-piece suit, a white shirt with dark vertical lines and a brown and orange tie.

He wore a red jersey underneath his shirt and two pairs of socks, although only one shoe was found near the body.

A brown comb, a tobacco tin containing a mortice key and a small portable radio in a black leather case were also recovered from the scene.

Nevertheless, despite the detailed description and a computer generated image of what the dead man may have looked like, his identity remains a mystery.

"We can only hope, even now, these details will jog someone's memory and we can finally identify Colsterdale Man," said Mr Fell