THE father of tragic baby Toby Woods today hit out at police after they said no charges will be brought against his partner and said: "I always said she'd done nothing wrong."

But Robert Woods said he feared that investigations against his long-term partner Donna Hanson could restart at any time and he believed that it would only take a change in public opinion for their lives to be turned upside down again.

Mr Woods, 32, of Pendle Street, Accrington, spoke exclusively to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph just hours after hearing that Miss Hanson, 26, would not have charges brought against her after the death of son, Toby, in September 1999, aged four months.

Police first launched their investigation in December 1999, and the inquest into Toby's death has repeatedly been adjourned as medical experts were brought in to try to ascertain how Toby died.

An initial decision was taken not to press charges in July 2000, but police began probing Toby's death again in 2001 following "fresh evidence."

But yesterday, a statement was released by the police announcing that no charges would be brought.

It read: "The view of the Crown Prosecution Service is that the evidence does not provide a realistic prospect of a conviction."

Toby's inquest is next listed for brief mention at the coroner's court on August 12, but Mr Woods said today: "It is now nearly four years since Toby died, and we are no closer to finding out why he died.

"For all we know, the inquest evidence might come back inconclusive and we may never know why he died.

"As far as I am concerned, the police came into this with only one thing in mind, and that was to try to accuse someone of Toby's death. I don't think it has been investigated properly.

"It has been an nightmare for us but I don't think this is the end."

The CPS today confirmed they had taken the recent high profile cases of two women charged with the deaths of their young children into account when considering the Toby Woods case, but that "ultimately each case is decided on its own merits."

Earlier this year, Trupti Patel was cleared at Reading Crown Court of killing there of her children between 1997 and 2001. None survived to be older than three months. In January, Cheshire solicitor Sally Clark was cleared of murdering her two baby sons by the Court of Appeal.

The 38-year-old had always protested her innocence and her case had received backing from her friends, family and cot death campaign groups.

Mr Woods added: "I think the Patel and Clark cases have led to this decision, partly because there has been a change in public opinion with medical evidence being questioned.

"But that doesn't mean it can't all start up again. The police's announcement changes nothing, nothing at all."

An earlier inquest, which was adjourned, was told that a cyst had been found on Toby's brain, and that two members of Mr Woods' family had died as a result of brain tumours.

Detective Inspector Jim Elston said yesterday: "The difficult and tragic circumstances behind this investigation affected both Toby and Ashley's family and the police officers involved in the inquiry."

A spokesman for the CPS said today: "This was a particularly sensitive case and it is unusual for case to go on for this long but it was important that when we made a decision, it was the right one."