Since his disappearance in 1974, Scotland Yard detectives have pursued Britain's most famous fugitive Lord Lucan around the globe.

The moustachioed murder suspect fled his London home after the family's 29-year-old nanny was found beaten to death. His wife later accused the missing earl of trying to kill her.

For years after he vanished, detectives investigated supposed sightings of the elusive nobleman, which flooded in from locations all over the world.

Then, at the beginning of the 1980s, the trail of one of Britain's most wanted men began to go cold.

But now staff at an Oxford newsagent say they may be able to shed some light on the murder mystery which has fascinated professional sleuths for almost a quarter of a century.

Next time you pop into Pickwick Papers in Gloucester Green, take a close look at the man behind the counter. For the manager of the shop bears an uncanny likeness to "Lucky" Lord Lucan.

Dad-of-three Peter Yarrow, 45, who has run the business for the past ten years with his wife Tessa, 44, insists he is NOT the missing peer. But his staff remain unconvinced.

When Peter returned from a recent family holiday to Turkey, he discovered his employees had plastered his store with posters featuring his photo and asking: "Is this Lord Lucan?" He said: "I did disappear but only for a fortnight's holiday and when I came back I discovered the staff had played this practical joke on me.

"I have got a moustache and I admit I do look quite like him but I got a shock when I got back and and saw all the posters. The staff are always playing practical jokes.

"I do look like Lord Lucan but he strikes me as a rather sinister character and some simple inquiries would soon establish that I am a family man from Newbury."

Peter lives with his wife and three children, 14-year-old triplets Emma, Marion and Alastair, who all help out in the store.

He insisted: "Lord Lucan would be much older than me and there are other things that don't add up, if you compare our backgrounds." An Internet booth is being installed at the shop and Peter said this could help in the hunt for the real Lord Lucan.

"People will be able to go on the Net and find out the latest information about the hunt and where Lord Lucan was last spotted."

Shop assistant Carl Johnson said: "We did this for a bit of a laugh. We reckon Lord Lucan is alive and well and selling copies of the Oxford Mail." Unsolved mystery On November 8, 1974, the Oxford Mail reported that the battered body of Sandra Rivett, 29, had been found in a sack in the basement of Lord Lucan's home in Belgravia, London.

The earl's 35-year-old wife Veronica was rushed to hospital with head injuries after running from her house shouting "murder".

Detectives immediately began trying to trace the 39-year-old seventh Earl of Lucan, who went into hiding immediately after the incident. In 1975, Lady Lucan told a coroner's court her estranged husband tried to strangle her on the night of the murder. She said after going to look for Mrs Rivett, she was hit on the head four times. Then her husband thrust two gloved fingers down her throat and tried to strangle her.

The court heard that the couple's marriage had deteriorated and in 1973 Lucan moved out.

There were numerous theories about exactly what happened on the night of the killing. One was that the gambling earl bludgeoned Mrs Rivett with a piece of lead pipe, mistaking her for his wife.

Det Chief Supt Roy Ranson led the unsuccessful hunt for five years until his retirement in 1979.

In 1982, mercenary John Miller claimed to have tracked Lucan to a hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad but his claims were discounted by police. The same year, a book by Sally Moore was published in which she claimed the earl was framed. Lady Lucan said she was "disgusted" by the book, which took 12 years to research. HUNTING WITH THE NET Peter promises customers an Internet booth so they can hunt the missing peer on the Internet. We checked Lord Lucan's website ourselves to find out the latest about the numerous sightings over the years of the handsome earl.

After being seen gambling in Botswana and backpacking on Mount Etna, Sicily, detectives turned their attention to southern Africa in 1995.

In 1995, Scotland Yard detectives said they were convinced that Lord Lucan, who would now be in his sixties, was alive and well and living in sourthern Africa, where his children, including his son Lord Bingham, 29, were making frequent trips. Attention also fell on Lord Lucan's daughter Lady Frances, who was also making trips to similar destinations. Lord Bingham described the theory as "preposterous."

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