REMAINS linked to missing Brit hiker Esther Dingley may have been dragged into the open by animals, police believe.

       The skull with long hair was discovered on a path regularly used by walkers in the Pyrenees.

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       Wild animals may have dragged into the open remains linked to missing British hiker Esther Dingley, 37, as a skull with long hair was found in the Pyrenees

       It was found near Port de la Gléré, a mountain pass on France’s border with Spain near where Esther, 37, was last seen hiking in November.

       Commander Jean-Marc Bordinaro said: "This is indeed the area that Esther Dingley was supposed to be in when she disappeared, but we need to be cautious while the identification process is underway.

       “Everything suggests that these bones were recently moved by animals.

       "They would not have been there a few days earlier.”

       Brown bears and wolves roam free in the Pyrenees and vultures are a common sight.

       Forensics experts are investigating whether DNA from the remains matches a sample provided by Oxford University graduate Esther’s mum, Ria Bryant, 74.

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       An investigating French source on Saturday said there was no ‘immediate proof as to the identity of the remains’ and that ‘a medico-legal procedure will be followed to establish the identity of Person X in the days ahead.’

       Specialist forensics officers from the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie (DGGN) will carry out the task, under the supervision of France’s Interior Ministry and an examining magistrate.

       Up to 3000 unidentified bodies are found in France every year, including ones in vast rural areas such as the Pyrenees, said the source.

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       Commander Jean-Marc Bordinaro said: 'Everything suggests that these bones were recently moved by animals' Credit: Reuters

       Last person to see missing British hiker Esther Dingley alive, Marti Vigo del Arco, says weather conditions were good when she vanished