DROITWICH Spa's answer to Sherlock Holmes believes he has solved the mystery of the missing Christmas lights.

Super sleuth Mark Heel claims it took him less than two hours to find out where the lights have been hiding.

Last month, the Advertiser asked for readers to help uncover the mystery of where the lights on the tree in Victoria Square had gone. The lights were not taken down at the start of the New Year and continued to sparkle through into the spring.

However, at sometime they were taken down and organisers of the annual lights switch-on did not know by whom.

Mr Heel said Pirelli Construction, in Kidderminster, took down the lights at the start of the summer. The firm is contracted by Worcestershire County Council's Highways Partnership street lighting department.

"Now they are at the council depot ready for collection," claims Mr Heel.

He says he finds it unbelievable that Droitwich's district and county council representatives did not know where they were. He planned to bring the matter up for discussion at the meeting of Droitwich Spa town council on Monday.

John Day, from the county council's street lighting department, confirmed Pirelli had put up and taken down the lights.

"It got to sometime last summer and we had reports that the lights were still going on, so we asked for Pirelli to take them down as a matter of health and safety," said Mr Day.

He said they were in the storeroom at Pirelli waiting to be collected, and also mentioned the contractors had not yet been paid for putting up the lights in the first place.

No one was available from Pirelli Construction at the time the Advertiser went to press.