A WOMAN says she may be able to solve the final puzzle in the hunt for relatives of man with a rock 'n' roll lifestyle, who died alone.

Liesa Dewsnap, of Ashton-under-Lyne, was a close friend of William Young, of Hilton Street, Darwen, and knows where daughter Christine, 37, may be living.

A frantic search was launched for a relative of Mr Young, 62, who died from heart disease at his home on January 24.

His ashes are being kept in storage by the Co-operative Funeral Service in Blackburn and his personal belongings are set to be disposed of by his landlord, Twin Valley Homes, in the next few weeks unless a relative is found.

His death has shocked friends who heard Mr Young talk about his time as a drummer in Coronation Street star Bill Tarmey's band and claim that he played with rock legend Sting before he was in the Police.

Mr Tarmey, who plays Jack Duckworth in the soap, issued a plea for family to come forward and give Mr Young "the ending he deserved".

Mrs Dewsnap, 49, says she can achieve this as she knows for certain that Christine was living in the Southampton area and possibly using her father's surname. She plans to contact all Mr Young's friends and track down Christine herself.

She said: "They fell out several years ago. It's tragic that she doesn't know he is dead."

Mr Young became close friends with Mrs Dewsnap after teaching drums to her son Ross, 14, for seven years. He visited the family a week before his death. "He discovered he had heart disease in September but looked a lot healthier and said he felt better," said Mrs Dewsnap.

"It upsets my family that he died alone. I can't bear the thought he was on his own. It was such a terrible shock to everybody. He was such a nice, kind man and so caring."

Mrs Dewsnap also helped fill in some of the blank spaces of Mr Young's life when officers at Twin Valley Homes were trying to trace his family.

He fled his native Whitby for Ashton-under-Lyne after a double tragedy. His 14 year-old son Steven died from pneumonia. The shock is said to have led to his wife Elsa having a stroke nine months later in 1982.

Mrs Dewsnap said Mr Young was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and Bill Tarmey let him stay in his bungalow to recover. Mr Young made the area his home until moving to Darwen two years ago to be closer to Blackpool, where he played many gigs.

She also revealed that Mr Young played drums with Sting when the rock legend was a student at Newcastle University in the late 1960s, and not on a Police album as friends had claimed.