Fiction meets reality once more as a real-life encounter with the strong arm of the law puts the life of a fictional cop in danger.

An "exclusive" report appearing in both the Mirror and the Sun reveals how the creator of Detective Jack Frost, RD Wingfield, is threatening to kill off his most famous creation after a "bust-up" with police.

According to the Mirror, the writer, who is "in his 70s", "raged" when his 54-year-old nephew was locked up by police and falsely accused of shoplifting, criticisng the Essex police force for "over-aggressive policing". He claimed his nephew didn't match the thief's description, and that police refused to contact alibis, did not consult CCTV footage and urged the innocent man to confess.

"And he did not get a personal reply when he complained to the Chief Constable of Essex," continues the Sun.

Wingfield told the Mirror that the police had made it "impossible" for him to write any more "pro-police Frost novels. The book I'm working on will be my last."

The news may well "stun" fans of Jack Frost - also played by housewives' favourite David Jason in an ITV series - but after the shock has passed the questions remain.

If Wingfield really has written his last "pro-police" Frost novel, then what is he going to do with the book he is "working on"?

He clearly has no intention of wasting any of the effort he has already put in and - like his creation - will doggedly see it through to the end. But what end? Will an innocent victim be murdered while locked up on a trumped-up charge that a cursory inspection of CCTV evidence would have ruled out? Will his tireless devotion to the force be revealed as a petty sham when the final chapters reveal that Frost was in the pay of the Mob all along? Has Frost been the sinister mastermind behind a network of police officers trafficking in under-age sex slaves? Perhaps the biggest shock is still to come for Wingfield's fans.

And it doesn't stop with Frost. If a run-in with the police over a stolen battery charger can kill off Jack Frost then what would it take to get rid of Scarpetta, or Rincewind, or Harry Potter, or Angelina Ballerina?