A TEENAGER found a human skull washed up on a beach.

The 13-year-old girl was walking along Earlham's Beach, Little Oakley, with her father on the Sunday afternoon when she made the gruesome find.

Shocked by their discovery, the pair then called the police and officers and a forensics team arrived at the scene.

The experts are believed to have bagged up the skull before taking it away to a laboratory for testing. 

One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “It was found by a young girl walking with her dad.

“Both of them were shocked by the find. 

“They called the police and forensics who came and took it away.

“At this stage, no-one knows if it is ancient or modern.”

Mike Bush, ward councillor for the Oakleys and Wix, said it would be wrong to jump to conclusions about the skull’s origins until there has been further analysis.

He said: “I will reserve judgement until it has been confirmed by forensics but it could well turn out to be an interesting and exciting find.

“We know around those areas there are often ancient finds because historically there were settlements and encampments along the coastal belt.

“So, there is a good possibility it could be real, but let’s wait and see.”

Questions have since been raised about the skull’s authenticity on social media.

Some commentators have speculated it could belong to a historic primate or a human who was buried at sea hundreds of years ago.

Other social media users, however, have suggested it may just be a life-like prop, dropped on the sand as part of a cruel prank to scare passers-by.

A spokeswoman for Essex Police, however, has now confirmed it was a human skull which was found.

She said: "A human skull was found by a member of the public while walking along Irlam’s Beach, Little Oakley, around 3.30pm on Sunday.

"At present, it is not known how old the skull is but we believe it may have been brought in by the tide.

"Enquiries are ongoing, but this is not being treated as suspicious."