A decade-old mystery about the unknown identity of an author has been solved after the resident trying to track him down joined forces with the Sutton Guardian.

Derek Balsom, of Wordsworth Drive, North Cheam, found the tearjerking autobiography of the terminally ill man in his attic 10 years after being handed it when they met briefly at St Helier Hospital in 2001.

The author, who was suffering from a rare form of leukaemia, died shortly after giving the 150-page manuscript to Mr Balsom and it remained in the 78-year-old’s loft until he discovered it two weeks ago.

But having cross-referenced certain facts and dates from the book with the Sutton Guardian’s archives, our research led us to the name Steve Lunn.

In one chapter of the autobiography, titled A Mid Summers Nightmare, Mr Lunn wrote that he sent a long letter to newspaper editors around the country asking for help selling his paintings so he could take his daughter to Disneyland before he died.

Tragically, the 32-year-old budding artist only received a response from the Sutton Guardian and, in the book, he described how he appeared in the paper on February 13, 1997.

When we checked our archives, we found the story and a photo of Mr Lunn, with his then four-year-old daughter, on the front page of the Sutton Guardian.

On hearing we had indentified the author, Mr Balsom said: “It’s a fantastic piece of news, an excellent piece of investigative reporting.

"I didn’t really know who to ask to try and find this out.

“The name Steve does sound familiar and I guess the next step now is to try and get ity back to his family.

"I’m certain the young man’s family would want the book seeing as he spent a lot of time writing it.

“I tried to find out his name through St Helier Hospital but they were pretty unhelpful so I’m really pleased I went to the local paper.”

Despite the discovery of his name and picture, some questions connected with this mystery still remain unanswered.

Mr Balsom said: “I wonder if he succumbed to his illness, if he managed to sell his paintings and did he take his daughter to Disneyland?”

* Did you know the Lunn family from the Wallington area in the 1970s and 1980s? Let us know by calling the news desk on 020 8330 9535