FANS of crime writer Agatha Christie will be given a massive clue as to the whereabouts of her former Wallingford home – a blue plaque.

For decades, tourists have turned up at Winterbrook House in Cholsey to see the former home of the author who created Inspector Poirot and Miss Marple, a role now being played by Julia McKenzie in a new drama series for ITV.

But there has been no sign on the Grade II-listed detached house to confirm she once lived and wrote some of her best-selling detective novels there.

Now the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board is about to apply for listed building consent to put up a plaque on the front of the house, so that it can be seen by Christie fans.

Board spokesman Eda Forbes said: “This house has been on our list for a number of years, but we are now in a position to apply for listed building consentand will do in the near future.

“Agatha Christie is still enormously popular, so the board members were very enthusiastic about this.

“We have the support of the owner, so I don’t envisage any problems with this proposal and we hope the plaque will go up early next year.

“Winterbrook House has high hedges so the plaque will have to be positioned quite carefully so that it can be seen from the gate.”

Gregor Kleinknecht, owner of Winterbrook House, where Christie lived from 1934 until her death in 1976, said: “We have agreed the blue plaque can go on the front of the house so that people can see it.

“We weren’t aware of the Agatha Christie connection when we moved into the house – we only found out afterwards.

“We get TV crews from around the world coming here to make documentaries, and sometimes a busload of tourists turns up wanting to know when the museum is opening, and we have to re-direct them.”