The grisly day in 2006 when a book made from human skin was found dumped in Leeds city centre

Police released this photo of the book back in 2006 when they were trying to trace its owners, who later came forward

A 300-year-old book written in French and bound in human skin was discovered dumped in a bin off The Headrow.

The Leeds Zoo: The story of a failed tourist attractionThe manuscript appeared to have been abandoned by burglars who thought the historic artifact was valueless.

Police later traced its owners - a family whose Headingley home had been broken into. The ghoulish book was actually worth around £30,000 and dated from the 1700s. It was thought to have been published in Jersey.

A Dead Man's Penny - a brass medallion given to the families of men who died in World War One - was found alongside it.

Binding books in skin became popular from the 17th century onwards, and was particularly common during the French Revolution.

In later centuries, the accounts of murder trials would be wrapped in the flesh of the executed killer. Anatomy textbooks were often bound with the skin of a dissected corpse.

A man in his 20s was arrested in connection with the gruesome theft, but was never charged.