In a replica of a scene from the French film Amelie, grandmother Eve Stuart-Kelso was stunned to see her leprechaun Murphy standing wearily outside her Gloucester home, carrying a note putting his world tour down to "itchy feet".

The album of 48 photos from around the globe shows Murphy abseiling down a mountain, standing in a shark's mouth, swimming in the sea, and riding a motorbike.

Also with him were immigration stamps for all the shores he had been taken to visit - South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and Laos.

The gnome, whose "travelling companion" is referred to only as The Bear, said in the album that he attracted unwanted attention from customs officials and took up 25% of the party's luggage allocation.

Some of the pictures show a group of mysterious young men, who could be the ones responsible for the globetrotting stunt.

The letter, signed by Murphy, blamed "itchy feet" for his sudden disappearance, saying: "There's more to life than watching daily commuter traffic and allowing passing cats to urinate on you."

The bizarre crime echoes the film starring Audrey Tautou in which a gnome belonging to Amelie's father is taken around the world and photographed to show him how much he is missing out on in life.

The grandmother-of-three from Longlevens said: "The leprechaun went missing many, many months ago and I had forgotten about it.

"Then I opened the door on Thursday and saw he was back. It was such a shock. I thought, 'Well, it's a bit of mischief but at least he hasn't been put through the window.'

'Strangest gift'

"Murphy was quite badly damaged and there was a tightly wrapped parcel next to him. Then I saw it was a beautifully-bound photo album and opened it up.

"His feet were missing, but that's no real surprise given that he was sent abseiling down a mountain!

"It was the strangest gift I have ever received.

"I just keep thinking how funny it is. It makes me smile to see all the people he met on his travels. It was a wonderful surprise and of course it's so nice to get some good news. The story really is unbelievable."

Mrs Stuart-Kelso, a tour guide for the Civic Trust, added: "It was a beautifully written letter. The intriguing thing is that someone had gone to such trouble to do this for a complete stranger."

She said her grandchildren, Sophie, 14, Ellie, 13, and Piers, 13, would be thrilled to hear of the gnome's adventures. The trio give the green-hatted gnome a fresh coat of paint every year.

A Gloucestershire police spokeswoman said there had been no report of a gnome going missing, but said: "Any theft of a person's property, even if it is carried out as a joke, will be treated as a crime by police.

"What may seem like a laugh to one person can cause distress to another."

Murphy is now back in the garden where he belongs - his family hope for good.

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