Martin Coates: Last News

A missing man was tracked down thanks to movie-style detective work when police spotted a hidden message on an old Christmas card.

The operators of a proposed spaceport claim it can launch 30 “tartan rockets” a year from Scotland at a cost of more than £200million.

ChronicleLive reports.Running out of ideas, PCs Bruno Lee and Martin Coates went back to the bloke's house and rummaged through his post to make sure they'd left no stone unturned – and eventually they struck gold.Coates is said to have found a Christmas card with an indentation on the back. When he held it up to the light, there was a glimmer of hope.The indent looked like the word "Alnwick" followed by a phone number linked to the same area in the market town in Northumberland.Cops from Bishop Auckland's D relief team reckon someone had been leaning on the card while writing a note on a piece of paper, which left the helpful clue.After checking the number, officers pinpointed an address in Alnwick.