A PUZZLE loving couple have won £1,560 after solving the 100 photograph Street Hunt challenge aimed at getting people more connected with their communities.

Street Hunt is an arts project run by the Heart of Glass, which is a visual treasure hunt where road names lead to riches.

From Saturday July 9, people could buy a Street Hunt book from The Book Stop in St Helens to start their search and go through the 100 different photographs of streets in St Helens, with the street sign removed.

Whoever the first person was to accurately name all the street signs would win a cash prize of up to £6,000 with the amount rising week on week.

The winners after just 16 days are Kristian Ryder and Melissa French.

St Helens Star: Nik Lowe with Kristian and Melissa holding the Street Hunt book open on their last street to name - Freda Street Nik Lowe with Kristian and Melissa holding the Street Hunt book open on their last street to name - Freda Street

The puzzle loving duo from Moss Bank picked up the book and immediately got to work, straight away finding 30 of the streets.

Kristian, 48, who works in Sainsburys said: “We knew 30 straight away, and then it was a case of driving around St Helens, taking different routes home and using Google Maps street view to try and figure out the rest.

“As soon as we realised there was a poem and a rhythm to it it made it a lot easier, but Freda Street was the one we were unsure of for ages and once we got that we were done.”

Melissa, a scientist, 29, added: “Some pictures had obvious things straight away, like a tower than Morrisons have in all of their stores in the background or maybe a works van and the person is registered at their home address.

“It’s funny now because we feel like we know St Helens so much better, our commutes home completely changed.

“We were very focused on it.”

Kristian added: “I could easily have got another part time job with the 400 plus hours I’ve dedicated to this, I kept saying ‘right I’ll go to bed when I’ve found another one’.

“We realised certain ones would be a woman’s name of so many letters, so that narrowed it down.

“It was a lot of fun but stressful too, I’m glad we’ve done it.”

Melissa added: “It’s funny now because Google Maps tells me I’ve been somewhere and I probably haven’t, it’s probably just off our Google Street searches for this.

“We pre-ordered the book when it was announced in 2019, then the pandemic happened, so to win this is great and we will book a holiday with the money.”

Artist Joshua Sofaer created the project.

He added: “I thought I’d made Street Hunt St Helens super hard. I was worried that nobody would ever get it., “It’s amazing to me that Kristian and Melissa got there in just over a fortnight.

“They say they were working at it night and day and I can imagine they were. Huge congratulations to them. Their persistence is inspiring.”

Nik Lowe, manager of The Book Stop, who were involved in the project added: “I’m absultely made up really to meet these guys who really got into this.

“It’s been such a great project with the Heart of Glass and especially in light of the pandemic I hope it’s got people out and about into the community and learning more about different areas of St Helens as there’s lots to be proud of in this town.”

The link to the poem and answers is here: https://www.heartofglass.org.uk/thoughts-and-news/news/street-hunt-st-helens-answers