Now aged 62, Arthur admitted he and his then five-year-old brother Colin had been the ones who had terrorised the gnomes of Merseyside. Vernon Kay heard Arthur's confession live on his BBC Radio 2 ...

that helped cohere a singular version of the gnome as a small, jolly fellow with a white beard. It’s an image reminiscent of the Disney classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarves; in that cartoon ...