THE father of two baby boys who died within a year of each other has accused detectives of deliberately delaying an investigation into their deaths.

Robert Woods, of Pendle Street, Accrington, hit out during an inquest into the death of his four-month-old son Toby in September 1999. The inquest heard that police are still considering whether to bring charges following the death.

Mr Woods, whose second son, 10-month-old Ashley, died in December 1998, said the police were deliberately delaying matters until after the result of an appeal by Cheshire solicitor Sally Clark, who was convicted of the murders of her two young sons earlier this year.

Mr Woods told the hearing it was exactly seven months since Toby's death and the family, including his partner and mother of the two boys Donna Hanson, had been kept in the dark as to what the post mortem examination revealed.

He said it had taken six months before anyone had chased up the post mortem examination reports and that he had not been allowed to see them, suggesting to the court that the Clark case was behind the delay.

Mr Woods, who also has a five-year-old son, Aaron, with Miss Hanson, said the delay was denying the family any chance of a normal life as the child has been removed from their custody in the wake of the deaths. He said: "Until this is sorted out we cannot do anything to get our son back. Toby has gone, and there is nothing I can do about that, but we have another son and he wants to come home.

"The longer this drags on the more upset he gets, the more upset his mum gets and the more upset I get. Nobody seems to be doing anything quickly."

The inquest heard that police are still considering whether to bring charges against Miss Hanson, who has been interviewed in connection with Toby's death.

Detectives are also looking at Ashley's death where the cause was recorded as unascertained.

Mr Singleton agreed to pass on Mr Woods' concerns and try and impress on the police some degree of urgency.

He revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service had completed a review of the case and that papers had been passed to counsel for further legal opinion.

The coroner added that if no criminal proceedings arose he could list the inquest as a matter of urgency. The hearing was adjourned.