THE POLICE hunt for Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer Wearside Jack has been all but abandoned, despite renewed publicity.

Millions of television viewers heard the artificially aged voice of the hoaxer broadcast on the programme Real Crime: The Hunt for Wearside Jack, screened by ITV.

But by last night, both Northumbria and West Yorkshire police forces said they had received no calls from members of the public.

They said that while appreciating the "public spiritedness" of those people who had offered fresh information, they had no intention of following up any of the leads without any "concrete evidence".

For three years, the police hunt for Peter Sutcliffe, who killed 13 women, shifted to the North-East, after the Wearside Jack tapes were sent to detectives.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said yesterday: "After very careful consideration, it has been decided there will be no further action taken by the force into suggestions as to the identity of the hoaxer.

"Without there being some hard evidence, there is no reason to believe any of them are going to be more accurate than the hundreds of suggestions we have already followed up."