PUPILS have turned detective to solve a mystery to rival anything in a Harry Potter book.

Nine and ten-year-olds from Hartburn Primary School, at Hartburn, near Stockton, have worked out a fictional crime that needs forensic tests to be solved.

The crime involves a thief stealing JK Rowling's next Harry Potter script from a room at Stockton's Swallow Hotel.

Year five pupils have been working out a series of clues and using forensic tests to solve them.

Now all 400 pupils in the school are trying their luck at solving the crime and last night parents came to the school to have a go.

The children are given six suspect characters and must decide which one they believe to be guilty. To solve the crime, they must conduct a series of forensic tests including taking fingerprints from the door handle, using liquid solutions to check the type of ink used in a message, using a microscope for clues and checking footprints and maps.

"They have absolutely loved it," said classroom assistant Sandra Stabler. "It's all you hear in the corridors and playground, them saying 'this one's guilty or this one."

"We had a police officer, Karen Peake, who came to the school and told the children the tests were similar to how police officers were trained and they've gone mad for that. Now they all say they want to join the police force."

The guilty character will be revealed to the school tomorrow. The project has been organised by year five teacher Mavis Hardwick as part of National Science Week.