TORBAY is to twin with the Belgian ‘home’ of the world’s most famous fictional detective.

Torquay-born Queen of Crime Agatha Christie created the former police officer Hercule Poirot, whose ‘little grey cells’ solved many murder mysteries in her world-famous stories.

His long fictional career saw him appear in 33 of Dame Agatha’s novels, two of her plays and 51 of her short stories.

Now his home town could be cementing links with that of his creator.

Torbay Council says twinning will cement links between two places noted for heritage tourism and will help boost tourism.

Spa, in the province of Liege, is one of Belgium’s most popular visitor destinations and is famed for its natural mineral springs. For sports fans, it is also the home of the racing circuit that hosts F1’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The world’s first beauty pageant was held there in 1888 and it is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Torbay has been twinned with Hameln in Germany since 1973, and twinned with Hellevoetsluis in the Netherlands in 1989. Spa does not currently have a British twin town although it has ‘twins’ in a number of other European countries.

Torbay Council says town twinning is a recognised way of promoting cultural exchange, tourism, education, community engagement and international friendship.

There are around 2,000 active twinning arrangements across the UK.

A council statement says: “The proposed twinning between Torbay and Spa presents a particularly compelling opportunity because it is founded on a globally-recognised literary connection.

“This unique connection has already attracted international attention and provides a distinctive platform for tourism promotion, cultural programming and educational exchanges.”

The council says that unlike many twinning arrangements that are based solely on geographic or historical similarities, the Torbay-Spa relationship is underpinned by one of the world’s most famous literary brands.

It links two established heritage tourism destinations, each with UNESCO-recognised assets.

The twinning will be officially cemented with a special ceremony during the Agatha Christie Festival next month.

Hercule Poirot is noted for his waxed moustache, his fastidious dress and his reliance on logic, psychology and brain power – his own ‘little grey cells’ – to solve cases.

He has been portrayed by actors including David Suchet, Peter Ustinov and Kenneth Branagh.

In Dame Agatha’s stories, Poirot was a refugee who came to England from Belgium after the First World War.

During both World Wars, Torbay and Brixham became major hubs for Belgian refugees fleeing continental Europe, with the port of Brixham attracting large numbers of maritime workers and their families.

Local families volunteered accommodation and communities formed refugee relief committees. A young Agatha Christie volunteered as a nurse, and her interactions with refugee families inspired her to create Hercule Poirot.