FLY-fishing police officer John Austin is angling for new lines of inquiry after writing a new chapter in his life.

The Durham City PC combined his love of angling and local history to become a writer and researcher, after becoming hooked on a battered old copy of a Victorian book.

Ten years ago, PC Austin, 47, was loaned the copy of My Life As An Angler, written by businessman and Durham politician William Henderson.

But, when he called the Flyfisher's Classic Library to find out more about the author, he was asked to write an introduction for a reprint of the 1876 book, which tells of Henderson's fishing adventures on the Wear, Coquet and Tweed.

PC Austin delved deeper and found a host of information about Henderson and his family, which had business interests in carpets, coal, iron and water.

While William Henderson was a Conservative mayor of Durham in 1849, his brother, John, was the city's Liberal MP. The book was written by Henderson for his family, as a reminder of part of his life.

After its first print, which was only for private circulation, the book was reprinted three years later, for the trade.

Having enjoyed his move into research, PC Austin has turned his skills to the Cummins family, whose fishing tackle shop moved from Bishop Auckland to Darlington in 1953, after being sold to a businessman