Shoestring needed to solve shoe tree mystery?

MYSTERY surrounds why dozens of shoes have been hung from the branches of a tree on Churchill Playing Fields.

shoes have been hung from the branches of a tree on Churchill Playing Fields

The shoes, which are mostly trainers, have been tied in pairs by their laces and flung over the branches of the tree next to the skate park. There are many different theories as to why people throw shoes to hang from trees.

But the practice, believed to have originated in north America, has become a global phenomenon rather than a local craze.

In 2009, £265,000 of Lottery funding was spent trying to uncover the mystery of why people kept hanging shoes from the branches of an ash tree for almost 40 years in Buckinghamshire.

The Independent contacted Oldham Council to ask if the shoes would be removed or allowed to remain.

• Shoestring was a fictional detective played by Waking the Dead actor, Trevor Eve.