Police confirmed that a mysterious package left by a grave in the Muslim burial area of Batley Cemetery last Thursday contained a human placenta.

Officers had been called out, as well as a forensics team, when a labelled freezer bag containing the placenta was discovered.

Mourners in the graveyard were left stunned when they stumbled across it.

At the time no -one knew what it was and some suspected it was a nasty prank.

And there were also concerns about it being a health and safety hazard.

Mufti Yusuf Akudi said after a baby is born hospital staff let the parents take the placenta away so that it can be buried properly as an Islamic practice.

But leaving it out exposed in a graveyard was completely wrong.

He said: "The hospital puts the placenta in a bag for us and the father then takes it and buries it immediately. We believe it should be buried because it is part of the body.

"Leaving it out like that in the graveyard is not acceptable in Islam. This sort of act is unpleasant to people and to those who are visiting graves.

"If people are not going to bury it properly then let the hospital dispose of it clinically because it is more hygienic."

A police spokesman said: "We were called out following reports that remains had been discovered in the cemetery.

"We confirmed this to be a placenta following inquiries from the hospital.

"There were no suspicious circumstances in this incident."

Cemetery workers said nothing like this had happened before.