Detectives trying to identify a mystery man found dead on a hillside near Dovestone Reservoir have narrowed their search to a dozen possibilities.

The smartly-dressed man was found on a track above the reservoir on December 12 with nothing but three train tickets and £130.

Officers focused their search on Pakistan after discovering that the unknown man had an operation to insert a 10cm metal plate onto his left leg between 2001 and 2015 - giving them a list of 140,000 people.

And detectives now say officers have managed to narrow down the possible number of Pakistani hospitals where he may have received his operation to less than a dozen.

Det Con Ben Miller, of Oldham CID, said police are still waiting for details from the Pakistani authorities that will help them narrow down the results further.

The unidentified man’s body was discovered on top of a hill at Greenfield on Saturday, December 12.

New artist's impression of man found dead near Dovestone Reservoir

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Police have since confirmed that he was poisoned by strychnine, which he may have administered himself as he neared the peak of Indian’s Head.

Officers know that the man travelled from Ealing Broadway train station to Manchester Piccadilly via Euston on Friday, December 11.

He travelled to Dovestone Reservoir and asked for directions to the Indian’s Head summit ignoring warnings that he could not make it back before sunset.

His body was discovered by a walker at 10.45am the next day lying face upwards with his head pointing towards the summit, his legs together and arms by his side.

Another line of enquiry is that the mystery man could have been visiting a Memorial Forest - which contains trees dedicated to various loved ones - situated close to Dovestones Reservoir before he died.

Click into the map to see police know about the mystery man's journey so far...

Mystery death of man near Dovestone Reservoir, Greenfield, Oldham
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DC Miller said the memorial forest is still a line of enquiry but is not a major part of the investigation.

He said: “We are aware of the memorial. It’s a line of enquiry that we have looked into. However it’s quite a distance from where the body was found.

“We don’t dismiss any lines of enquiry but we do have to priortise them and there are more pressing areas.”

The detective added that police have also looked for clues in clothing worn by the deceased man, to no avail.

He was wearing black slip on shoes, a brown three-quarter length jacket with a collar, a blue sweater with a round neck, a white shirt with collar buttons and blue corduroy trousers.

Mystery of man found dead above Dovestone Reservoir

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DC Miller said: “We have looked at the origin of all the clothing from the footwear up and it’s untraceable in terms of batch numbers. There are cases where batch numbers on clothes can pinpoint an individual store but unfortunately not in this case.”

It was briefly believed that the mystery man could be Stephen Evans, a childhood survivor of a British European Airways crash at the site in 1949. But the theory fell apart when Mr Evans got in touch with the M.E.N.

It was also thought he could be Hugh Toner, an Irish man who went missing 20 years ago, but that was also ruled out by DNA samples.

Last month police released a forensic image of the man, aged between 65 and 75. He is described as white and slim, with a receding hairline with grey hair to the side and back. He had a large nose which may have been previously broken, and was clean shaven.

An inquest into the mystery man’s death is due to be re-opened on June 16.

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 8972 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.