DETECTIVES remain hot on the trail of a constable who mysteriously appeared among its ranks 65 years ago.

But, despite numerous inquiries, they admit that so far they have drawn a blank.

The curious case of Constable X was featured in The Northern Echo last month after police at Stanhope, in County Durham, issued an appeal for information about a photograph of Weardale officers taken in 1935.

The names of all 17 officers serving at that time are written on the back - except one.

His photograph had been carefully inserted later in the main picture, which was taken on January 8, 1935, to mark the retirement of Chief Inspector Storey.

Since the photograph was published on June 28, police at Stanhope have received lots of letters and phone calls from as far away as Northumberland and North Yorkshire.

But so far they have failed to unearth any clue to Constable X's identity, or why his picture was inserted.

"The only thing we have been able to find out is that his number was either 531631 or 531831," said Sergeant Jim Pitcher, who is in charge at Stanhope.

"Unfortunately, records of serving policemen at headquarters relate to names and not numbers. So, to find his name after so many years would be a marathon task for clerical staff.

"We are pressing on with our inquiries, however. There are still several leads we are following up."

Among theories advanced so far are that Constable X may have been sick, on leave or even suspended when the original photograph was taken.