The Adventures of Jo's Christmas Pudding - starring Aidan Turner?!

At school I once borrowed a book from the library which caused much amusement amongst my classmates when my Form Tutor read out a message from the Librarian stating it was due for renewal or return.

The tome in question was called 'The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding' - but in my defence it was an Agatha Christie, not a children's book about a plum pudding fulfilling its Christmas destiny.

I mention this now because there's been a recent real-life adventure involving a Christmas pudding.  Every year, outside The Yews in Gretton, two 100-year old (approx) box bushes are decorated to resemble Christmas puddings.

Jo's puddings are legendary throughout North Northamptonshire and Rutland.  Visitors make pilgrimages down the High Street just to see them, and they bring big smiles to many faces, young and old.

However, on the Monday night before Christmas, Jo's pudding tops were stolen.

A Facebook appeal to have them returned was sadly then followed by an even worse theft being committed the following night.  Somebody removed one of the box bushes altogether by dragging it out from the garden using a rope and vehicle of some description.

Despite more appeals the culprits have yet to be found. 

Everyone in the area is shocked that anybody could do such a thing - a drunken prank stealing the pudding tops is one thing, but a premeditated return to the scene and removing an ancient box tree is in another league.  Please call Crimestoppers or 101 if you have any information.

On a lighter note, perhaps this crime could be made into an Agatha Christie-type mystery, starring Aidan Turner.

I'm not sure what storyline we'll have to engineer to have him appear topless in Gretton though - maybe Jo could 'accidentally' spill a glass of red wine over his white shirt, which we then have to wrestle off him and wash straight away.  It won't help with the tree, but it might help ease the pain of its loss!