Divers have found the mystery cable in the River Leam among mud and discarded objects in its murky waters.

A team from Leamington and Warwick Sub Aqua Club entered the cold water on Saturday and spent several hours searching the riverbed before finding a 50-metre section of the line, which was around 25mm in diameter.

This could finally solve the mystery of the cable's use and origins, which has caused various readers to contact the Courier with their theories.

Senior instructor Andy Hay described the difficult and uncomfortable task.

He said: "I had zero visibility and only my imagination to assist in identifying the objects my frozen fingers touched.

"Each branch, pipe and bar was potentially a cable as there was little information to indicate clearly what I was searching for."

Parts of the cable were covered by a number of obstructions, including shopping trolleys and a bicycle.

My Hay and his colleague Les Rainsley were unable to raise the rigid line out of the water but attached three buoys to it as a reference to Environment Agency officers who will come to inspect it soon.

Mr Hay said: "The cable appears to be in some sort of trench which appears to have been disrupted in the area where it has risen above the river bed.

"It may continue towards Princes Drive but this would need more investigation."

Now the Environment Agency knows the cable's location it can safely set about tidying up trees along the river banks before bird nesting season begins at the end of February.

Eric Mallinson of the Central Leamington Residents' Association has been eager for the cable to be found and identified so the work can take place and that talks can begin on plans to restore the Pump Room Gardens to their "19th century glory".

Mr Mallinson said: "I think the problem has now been solved.
"It is a relief to have resolved - it has been quite a struggle to find a solution.

"We know where it is now and that it actually exists."

Readers have suggested the cable was once used as a power line for a Second World War sentry post, as a gauge for the flow at Edmondscote weir or as a method to transfer data to IBM's offices in Warwick.