Internet whodunnit attracts 26,000 surfers A BOLTON writer is in line for an on-line award after creating an interactive story on the Internet.

Andrew Oldham and computer buff pal Michael Fairclough put the whodunnit on the web in December and it has already been visited more than 26,000 times by surfers.

It has impressed people so much that Andrew has been short-listed with writers from around the world for the Trace/Alt-x International Hypertext Awards next month.

Andrew, aged 24, of Longworth Road, Horwich, was planning to include the short story "Neuter" in an anthology when it was suggested he should publish it on the World Wide Web.

The pair spent four months creating alternative storylines for the tale, set on the London underground.

Former Rivington and Blackrod High School pupil Andrew is far from being an Internet whizzkid.

But he admits he has now caught the computer bug.

He said: "I am a massive internet surfer now. Readers can even e-mail me to tell me what they think, which is great."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.