THE family of Wanstead schoolteacher Sarah Flooks have blamed a catalogue of errors' by the police for leaving them without any answers for her untimely death.

The criticism comes after an inquest at Walthamstow Coroners Court returned an open verdict in the case, with many of Ms Flooks' loved ones blaming the outcome on the failure of investigating officers to find her body earlier.

Her boyfriend, John Mouzouros, claims the case would have been solved long ago if the police had searched the whole of Wanstead Park in the weeks after the primary school teacher's disappearance in March 2006.

He said: "There is no doubt in my mind that we would have known by now exactly what happened to Sarah that day, if only the police had carried out a full search of the park.

"Because of this catalogue of errors the body was too decomposed for any scientific tests to be conclusive, leaving us with lots of unanswered questions."

Mr Mouzouros, who still lives at the couple's home in Wanstead Park Avenue, says he hopes the police will learn' from the investigation.

He said: "We are disappointed the police didn't carry out even a basic search of the area where Sarah was found, and I hope the police have learned lessons from the mistakes that have been made."

These views were backed by Ms Flooks' brother, Jeremy, who said the outcome of the inquest has left the family without the feeling of closure' they were hoping for.

He said: "There is still so much that doesn't make sense, such as how she wasn't discovered by dog walkers when her body was so close to a well used path.

"It's difficult for us to put this terrible episode behind us when there are so many questions left unanswered."

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, said: "The coroner listened thoroughly to all the evidence and we are satisfied an open verdict was the correct one to record in the circumstances.

"A case of this nature is always difficult and our thoughts are very much with the family, friends and work colleagues of Sarah Flooks.

"We endeavoured to find and then investigate what happened to her as thoroughly as possible.

"Due to the huge scale of the parkland in the Wanstead area, the original search concentrated on parkland where there had been possible last sightings of Sarah and where her car was parked in Northumberland Avenue.

"Her body was discovered by someone working in Wanstead Park in an dense overgrown wooded area in the opposite direction to those sightings.

"Because no cause of death could be reached there will inevitably still be questions left unanswered but if there is any way we can help Sarah's family now the inquest is over we will continue to do so."