A MAN who is the police's prime suspect over his wife's death has quit his job -- just weeks after his boss backed his claims of innocence.

Robert Lund, 51, blamed his decision to resign from his labouring work after four years on a difference of opinion, but said it was nothing to do with the on-going investigation.

The body of his wife of five years, Evelyn, 52, whose first husband was from Burnley and whose relatives live in Rawtenstall and Blackburn, was found on the back seat of her Toyota Landcruiser 4x4 at the bottom of the Bancali lake in southern France in October, 2001.

Evelyn, formerly of Winter Hill, Darwen, went missing in December, 1999, and her family embarked on a campaign to find some answers.

Her death remains a mystery despite the biggest police investigation ever to be carried out in the Tarn region of France.

The resignation comes just weeks after an in-depth investigation by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph to mark the fourth anniversary of the mother-of-three's disappearance.

The French regional newspaper Le Midi covered the Telegraph's visit to the region. An article appeared in the regional daily paper La Dpeche du Midi on December 31. The report detailed how reporter Clare Cook, a fluent French speaker, and picture editor Neil Johnson, spent a week in the area piecing together the facts of the case.

Mr Lund, a former Blackburn with Darwen tree protection officer, still lives at the couple's converted farmhouse in La Veaute, near Raysaac.

He said he was forced to take the job with the house building and restoration business to make "ends meet" after the authorities blocked Evelyn's accounts.

Her body has yet to be released for burial, or the will to be administered.

His employer, Claude Quarin, of Albi, acted as a character reference for Mr Lund, describing him as a hard worker who had been "treated like a criminal". Now Mr Lund is due to start a new labouring post for just over the minimum wage in the nearby town of Albi in the next couple of days.

"There was a clash of personalities and things took a turn for the worse," he said.

"So I handed in my resignation and have been in demand by two agencies. My new job will be very similar labouring work. I had to take the job to keep myself afloat as all the accounts were blocked after Ev's disappearance."

He said he had received several supportive phone calls from friends in East Lancs.