Police have said they will never close the case of Moors Murder victim Keith Bennett, despite the death of Ian Brady.

The body of 12-year-old Keith, one of Brady and Myra Hindley's five victims, has never been discovered.

Glasgow-born serial killer Brady died at the age of 79 in Ashworth High Secure Hospital in Merseyside.

Martin Bottomley, head of the Greater Manchester Police's cold case review unit, said officers would act on "credible and actionable" information which would help them find the body of 12-year-old Keith.

He said: "Whilst we are not actively searching Saddleworth Moors, Greater Manchester Police will never close this case. Brady's death does not change that."

Mr Bottomley praised the "incredible dignity" of the families of the victims of Moors Murderers Brady and Hindley.

He said: "I do not want to comment on Brady at all. The thoughts of everyone within Greater Manchester Police are with the families who lost loved ones in the most painful and traumatic way.

"It is especially saddening for the family of Keith Bennett that his killers did not reveal to police the whereabouts of Keith's burial site.

"A week hardly goes by when we do not receive some information which purports to lead us to Keith but ultimately only two people knew where Keith is."

He added: "I want to stress that our aim, as it always has been, is to find where Keith is buried and give closure to his surviving family members so they can give Keith the proper burial they so desperately want."

Brady was jailed for the killings of John Kilbride, 12, ten-year-old Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans, 17, in 1966.

He went on to admit the murders of Pauline Reade, 16, and Keith Bennett.

Brady had been held at Ashworth High Secure Hospital since 1985. He has never revealed the location of Keith's body, despite repeated calls from relatives of the murder victim.

A Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said the serial killer, who used the name Ian Stewart-Brady before his death, had been on oxygen.

The crimes of Brady and Hindley - who died in prison in 2002 - shocked the nation as details of how the pair snatched children off the street, abused and tortured them to death were recalled during their trial at Chester Assizes.

Brady escaped the hangman's noose as the death penalty was abolished just months earlier and he was handed three life sentences.

In 2013, Brady asked to be moved to a Scottish prison so he could not be force fed, as he could be in hospital, and where he could be allowed to die if he wished.

His request was rejected after Ashworth medical experts said he had chronic mental illness and needed continued care in hospital.

In February, he was refused permission to launch a High Court fight to have the lawyer of his choice representing him at a tribunal where the decision would be reviewed.