Flowers and tributes were left in an alleyway where the body of a mystery dead baby was found - before police realised it was only a chicken foetus.
A member of the public discovered the remains in a back alley in the Anfield area of Liverpool.

Police cordoned off the scene but soon realised that it was not a human but a chicken foetus.

Well-wishers had laid more than a dozen bunches of flowers at the scene, along with cards and teddy bears.

Local gossip

One of the cards read: "RIP Little Baby. Safe in the arms of Jesus. From someone who is a loving mother xxxx."

Merseyside Police told the community on Monday to "stop grieving, it's only a chicken".

A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said: "It seems a member of the public saw the remains of a foetus, which possibly resembled a human foetus, and called us.

"We cordoned off the area to investigate, as we would with any possible suspicious death, but it became apparent it was not a human foetus.

"The flowers and cards are obviously the result of local gossip, but we can assure people that the remains were not human."

Conservative MP and editor of The Spectator Boris Johnson was criticised last year after commenting in the magazine that Liverpudlians were "hooked on grief".

Yeah , astonishing really ----------you 'd have thought there was enough to grieve over in Liverpool , without inventing any more !

err, this was ages ago and it wasnt so apparent, they had to send the foetus away to be tested but locally news spread of a foetus being found.

although it is quite ammusing i dont see the problem with a caring community. Liverpool still has its local communities were people look out for each other. How many people in sheffield even know there neighbours????

And who listens to the ramblings of Boris Johnson????

Us 3 for a start! :hihi:

Boris Johnson for Prime Minister I say. :clap:

and dont forget the new grief over crouch not scoring

ahh but im in the blue half, i love crouch not scoring!!!!

overly mawkish outpourings of grief arent an exclusively 'liverpudlian' thing, people do things like that all over the place, the fact that in this case it was proved to be a litle misplaced, well, if I'm honest it makes me chuckle :hihi:


:clap:

I think the people of Liverpool would be best served if they put some flowers out regretting the passing of Liverpool.
The death of a once great city , with hard-headed dockers , great comedians , a world-wide reputation , buzzing with energy , prosperity and warm-hearted people has been a real tragedy .
I wonder what's the first thing that comes to mind nowadays when people say , ' Liverpool ' ?
Perhaps all the sickly sentimentally that keeps emanating from the place is a sort of displacement activity ; maybe they're really mourning for themselves ?

i know, the fact liverpool has the best nightlife in the country, 2 great football teams (everton and everton reserves), and is the next capital of culture. its a depressing time to be in liverpool.....:suspect:

Well I just wanted to say that I love the Scouse people and a few of them are one of our best mates.
:D