FIRST tests on the remains of a human foot found on a beach in Swanage have proved inconclusive - leaving the family of missing Hamble schoolboy Dan Nolan still agonising over his disappearance nearly 18 months ago.

The remains, along with a DC training shoe and a sock, were recovered on May 15 and Hampshire police were informed of the find in Dorset 15 days later.

At the time a Hampshire police spokesman said the bones and items of clothing found at Swanage had been sent for forensic and DNA analysis and it was anticipated that the results would take several weeks.

She added: "Both the trainer and the sock appear to be consistent with those worn by missing Hamble teenager Daniel Nolan - but we await the results of the tests to establish identity."

Now, more than three weeks on, the missing Hamble boy's mother, Pauline, has told the Daily Echo: "We have heard that they can't get any DNA off it. We find this so bizarre because you hear of DNA solving criminal cases 25 or 30 years on."

Mrs Nolan said she had seen a picture of the DC trainer recovered at Swanage which looked in very good condition - giving her the belief that it had not been in the water for 16 months.

"I just find it very strange that this has turned up in Swanage anyway. None of it fits with the scenario of Dan going into the water off the pontoon at Hamble."

The King Edward VI schoolboy was 14 when he disappeared after going to the main pontoon at Hamble foreshore on a late night fishing trip with pals on New Year's Day last year.

No trace of him has so far been found, but before the Swanage development police said they were keeping an open mind about whether bones found near Hook-with-Warsash nature reserve in February this year were those of the missing Hamble teenager.

But in April police admitted that DNA tests on the Warsash bones would not be totally conclusive.

Mrs Nolan told the Daily Echo she knew further inquiries were being carried out but said the latest news had, yet again, left the family in limbo.

She said circumstances were treating them cruelly and added: "We just haven't got anything to help us move on or solve the mystery. We just need a clincher or clue to get a decision one way or the other."

A Hampshire police spokeswoman confirmed that the first tests on the human remains and trainer found at Swanage failed to reveal any DNA.

But she added: "Tests are ongoing and we do remain confident that we will be able to extract DNA from the shoe and the bones. We hope to have results in the next few weeks."