THE Home Office today confirmed the body found in a lake in France was that of missing Darwen woman Evelyn Lund.

DNA tests proved it was the body of Mrs Lund, 52, after she was found sprawled across the back seat of her red Toyota Landcruiser at the bottom of a lake, 15 miles from her home, last month.

A Home Office spokesman said the cause of death has not yet been established.

The spokesman said: "Confirmation has been received by the French gendarme that the body found on October 14 was that of Evelyn Lund. The next of kin was informed on the same night.

"Judicial inquiries are continuing."

Forensic tests are still being carried out on the vehicle and inquiries to establish the cause of death are likely to take up to a month.

Her husband Robert Lund today declined to comment.

A family member, who answered the telephone at the remote farmhouse in La Vaute, in the south of France, that he shared with Mrs Lund said he had been informed of the news.

Last week, speaking exclusively to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, 49-year-old Mr Lund complained of being kept in the dark by the French authorities.

He said he was not told of the discovery of the body until three days later. Mr Lund, who has been questioned by police in the past over his wife's disappearance, also protested his innocence claiming he had committed no crime.

One of Mrs Lund's three daughters, Patricia Taylor, of Franklin Road, in Witton, was also unavailable for comment today.

Michael Singleton, coroner for Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, has not been informed of the death. Standard procedure is that the coroner is not informed until a body had been brought back to their jurisdiction. If that is the case the coroner will decide if it is an unnatural death and whether an inquest should be opened.

Mrs Lund went missing in December 1999 after going to a friend's house. Despite a massive operation involving officers from France, Spain and British officers, there was no sign of Mrs Lund or the car until now.