HOSPITAL records containing confidential patient autopsy results were found dumped in a Worcester alleyway.

The medical notes, which bear details on the causes of death for 35 patients, were scattered along Croft Walk in The Butts, opposite Images nightclub.

Alex James-Scott, a worker from city estate agents Humberts, spotted the records from Worcester Royal Infirmary's pathological department, kept them safe and contacted the hospital.

The discovery comes after medical index cards from the old Ronkswood hospital, were found in filing cabinets in a second-hand shop in Astwood Road last week.

And the 32-year-old from St John's, who stumbled across the documents yesterday morning, said he had no idea how the records turned up close to Worcester Royal Infirmary's old Castle Street site.

"I walk this route to work every day and it is the first time I've seen these documents," said Miss James-Scott.

"There were more than 30 folders, all chucked on the floor. There were details on the dates of people's deaths, their autopsy results and their causes of death.

"I don't know if someone broke into the old hospital site and dumped them."

Despite a night of heavy rain, she said the documents, dating from 1976, were completely dry, so were most probably dumped that morning.

Miss James-Scott contacted the Evening News because she said she felt strongly about the importance of upholding patient confidentiality.

"I would have hated to think it was my family's medical records scattered down that alleyway," she said.

A representative from the hospital has now collected the confidential records.

A Trust spokeswoman said an immediate investigation had begun and it was grateful to members of the public for alerting it to their findings.