BBC Radio 2's Vernon Kay taken aback as Merseyside crime solved live on air when culprit calls in

Vernon Kay was taken aback after a listener phoned in to his Radio 2 show to confess to a Merseyside crime. During the winter of 1976 and early 1977, Formby saw national media coverage flood the town as police were puzzled after a number of gnomes were stolen.

The identity of the gnome thief has remained a mystery until now. Vernon retold the story this week on his show, which prompted a call from the listener named Jenny that she knew the culprit.

A man named Arthur phoned in today's show and admitted he committed the act when he was aged 15. He said: "I'm afraid to say that is true. I still can't remember what made me do it. I just remember walking back somewhere from home and walking past a garden that had a gnome in it.

"I looked and thought 'what is that gnome for? Why do people have gnomes?' And then it just grew out of that." Arthur was accompanied by his five year old brother, Colin, as he took gnomes from homes around the neighbourhood.

READ MORE: Serial gnome thief that rattled sleepy village

READ MORE: The Beatles cause a 'phenomenon' as fans 'can't wait' for exciting date

He added: "I sat down and we went out that evening, looked around the neighbourhood and found at least a dozen gardens with gnomes in, made a note of them. The next night we went out to collect them, so to speak, and then we crafted some fairly amateurish ransom notes and left it at that.

"We just thought it was a bit of fun and then nothing happened. It all went quiet." Arthur wrote ransom notes asking people to leave 25p in areas around Formby.

However, he returned the gnomes when he found his attempts had been unsuccessful. He said: "There was nothing there so three nights later we went and put them all back again and thought absolutely nothing of it."

Arthur was shocked to discover his actions were covered in the weekly local paper. He said: "[It] had a column inch which said police are investigating a gnome abductions and demanding money with menaces and Formby CID were investigating."

"We thought oh my god, we better keep quiet. And then a month later, Nationwide picked it up. We were sitting in the living room as a whole family."

When it made it onto national television, Arthur's younger brother finally confessed, which horrified their parents. He added: "My parents couldn't believe it. I was a wayward teenager so they looked and rolled their eyes."

Arthur's parents scolded him for his actions and said he must remain tight-lipped about it once they were assured he had returned the gnomes. Arthur asked for forgiveness on air as he said: "For years it has been on my conscience that I did this terrible thing.

"The one thing I do regret is that I think one of the gnomes was damaged because it was concreted in and we actually broke it." He added: "I thought this is my opportunity to clear my conscience."

Vernon was amazed the mystery had been solved as he said: "Arthur thanks so much for getting in touch. It just goes to show you that these stories that we play out, it's great that these people who are active in the stories can do exactly what you've done. He added: "I'm sure that the nation will forgive you for a harmless prank."