Detective investigating the disappearance of a Dudley mum have begun exhuming graves.

Natalie Putt, from Lower Gornal in Dudley, was just 17 when she went missing back in September 2003.

She popped out to go to a local shop but was never seen again and left behind an 11 week old son.

Police are now exhuming several graves in a Gornal cemetery in the hunt for Miss Putt.

Officers have already searched open land near to the teenager's home, including underwater searches of rivers and lakes and farmland in Wombourne where she kept horses.

The area will be sealed off for several days while the searches are conducted.

An 18-year-old local man was arrested in March 2004 in connection with Natalie's disappearance, but was later released without charge.