When it comes to fictional detectives, Dick Tracy is up there with the best of them.

And the American comic-strip hero who has delighted millions of fans for almost eight decades now has his own favourite - former Huddersfield detective Bob Bridgestock.

The retired copper who solved many murders and serious crimes in West Yorkshire has been admitted to Tracy’s Hall of Fame.

It left Bridgestock and his wife Carol, who also used to work for West Yorkshire Police, “dead chuffed”.

The pair are best known now for their series of crime thrillers starring Det Insp Jack Dylan.

A sixth book came out a few months ago and the seventh is likely to hit the book shops early in 2016.

The pair are also locked in talks with TV executives over a possible drama series.

But the Tracy honour has come out of the blue.

The pair feature in the latest cartoon strip written for American newspapers by Joe Staton and Mike Curtis.

The tribute penned by Sgt Jim Doherty reads: “After retiring from a 30-year career as a decorated senior detective Bob began collaborating with his wife Carol, a former civilian employee of the force, on a series of novels about Yorkshire inspector Jack Dylan, under the pen-name R C Bridgestock.

“The first in the series ‘Deadly Focus’ was published to critical acclaim and has been followed by four sequels”.

Bob said: “It came out the blue and I have to say I’m dead chuffed.

Crime thriller writers Bob and Carol Bridgestock

“Dick Tracy was a hero of mine when I was a kid and as fictional detectives go, he’s probably second only to Sherlock Holmes.

“I don’t know how they found out about us but I do have a friend in the FBI who is a keen fan of our work so maybe that’s the link.

“It’s things like this that make the hard work so worthwhile. We are in the middle of a seventh book and that’s 100,000 words which can be hard work. It is nice to know that people do appreciate it.

“The American market is a vast one that we would love to tackle and who knows, Dylan could go down well over there?”.

The Bridgestocks are currently working with renowned TV writer Sally Wainwright as consultants on the second series of the gritty drama Happy Valley and expect it to be as big a hit as the first series.

TRACY FACTFILE

The first strip was created by Chester Gould

It appeared in the Detroit Mirror on October 4, 1931 and later was carried in newspapers across the States

Well-known characters include Breathless Mahoney, Rughead and B O Plenty

Tracy was fond of gadgets - especially his two-way wrist radio

The series has been brought to life on TV and the cinema

Warren Beatty played the hero in a 1990 Hollywood version