THE mother of Babes in the Wood victim Karen Hadaway is calling for an investigation into how her daughter's clothing was lost.

The grieving mum, whose daughter was murdered in Brighton aged nine, said BBC reporter Martin Bashir took away her clothing for DNA testing but never returned it.

Michelle Hadaway said a note signed by Mr Bashir in 1991 shows he was taking the DNA-laden clothes belonging to her daughter, Karen.

She says the clothes taken were the ones she was wearing when she died.

Speaking to BBC's Women's Hour, she was asked whether she would support an investigation into his behaviour, similar to the Dyson report into his dealings with Diana, Princess of Wales.

"Of course," she replied.

"He should come forward and at least apologise don't you?

READ MORE: Martin Bashir 'may have lost' clothing of Babes in the Wood victim

"I mean there has been no apology even back when I found the receipt and he was approached about it. He is still saying 'I don't remember'."

Ms Hadaway went on to say she was considering legal action when asked.

She said: "I will be (speaking to lawyers), very much so.

"He said he doesn't even remember meeting me.

"I can't think for one moment how he wouldn't remember a high-profile case such as this."

Mr Bashir has responded to the allegation that he lost the potentially crucial evidence in an interview with The Times.

"I may have lost it but I don't remember," he said.

The BBC said: "When people raise concerns of this kind about our programmes, of course we look into them. The BBC has changed radically over the past 25 years and has significantly better processes and procedures in place to protect contributors, but we also know that it is important to keep learning."

When asked by The Argus whether an investigation will be taking place, it accidentally sent an internal email.

The email said: "It’s the journalist from The Argus again. We can just refer her to our line again or do you want us to just ignore?"

The BBC has apologised for the email.

Karen and her friend Nicola Fellows, also nine, were murdered in Brighton in 1986.

The Daily Mail reported in 2006 how Mr Bashir offered to arrange a DNA test on Karen's clothing as part of a 1991 BBC investigation.

It was reported that in 2004, when Sussex Police agreed to re-examine the evidence, Mr Bashir said he could not remember meeting Miss Hadaway.

It was reported that the BBC journalist claimed he could not remember planning the programme.

Paedophile Russell Bishop was found guilty of the murders in 2018, ending a 32-year fight for justice for the families of his victims.

Bishop was 20 years old when he sexually assaulted and strangled the nine-year-olds in a woodland den in Brighton.

He was originally cleared of their murders, but within three years went on to kidnap, molest and throttle a seven-year-old girl.

He left her for dead at Devils Dyke, though she survived.

While serving life for attempted murder, Bishop was ordered to face a fresh trial under the double jeopardy law, in light of a DNA breakthrough.

His girlfriend at the time of the murders, Jennifer Johnson, lied in court to protect him and was jailed for six years last week.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has accused the BBC of adopting a “we know best” attitude in the scandal surrounding its Martin Bashir Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.

In his first detailed response since the report from Lord Dyson, Mr Dowden said the affair had exposed “failures that strike at the heart of our national broadcaster’s values and culture”.

Director-general Tim Davie has written to staff at the BBC and said lessons must be learnt following the publication of Lord Dyson’s blistering report into the circumstances surrounding Diana, Princess of Wales’ 1995 Panorama interview.

In an internal email, Mr Davie said people across the BBC felt “deeply let down” by the contents of the 127-page document, which found the corporation covered up “deceitful behaviour” used by journalist Mr Bashir to secure the explosive interview.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "Although we have been aware of this matter, it had no material impact whatsoever on the investigation then or later, or on the 2018 prosecution, and caused no delay.

"All forensic evidence needed had been already obtained from the clothing in 1986 and stored separately, including the DNA evidence which only became accessible many years later due to advances in forensic technology and which was crucial in securing Bishop’s eventual conviction.

"We have previously explained it to Karen's family and have nothing to add now."