Saturday, June 13th is the date on which a murder is planned in Chipping Sodbury.

The event, on the second day of this year’s Chipping Sodbury Festival, will be at the heart of an Agatha Christie-style evening of mystery, suspicion and conspiracy presented by the drama group Murder on the Side which specialises in murder mystery dinner parties.

The event in Chipping Sodbury’s Town Hall – dubbed Death at Downtown Abbey – opens with a beautiful day in the gardens until a body is discovered face down in the fountain.

The festival highlight has been sponsored by Yate-based housebuilder Cotswold Homes Ltd. The firm’s £1,500 donation is part of its ongoing support for the festival and the local community in recent years.

For more information about the event, or to buy tickets (£30 to include dinner and a drink), email csfmurdermystery@yahoo.com or visit Ticketsource. All details on www.chippingsodburyfestival.com.

‘I’m sure Chipping Sodbury residents are going to snap up tickets for Murder on the Side’s Downtown Abbey plot as enthusiastically as they are snapping up the plots on our superb local developments,’ says Cotswold Homes’ sales and marketing director, Terri Hayes-Pugh.

‘Our Florence Gardens scheme in a leafy enclave off Trinity Lane in Chipping Sodbury has proved to be so popular that only a few remain available.

‘Buyers are enthusiastic about our other local developments, too.’

They include Harford Place in Rangeworthy which offers a development of spacious new homes in a semi-rural location – many with open views to the rear – carefully crafted to complement those in the surrounding area.

‘In Tytherington The Paddocks comprises three- and four-bedroom detached rural homes but buyers will need to be quick as only a few remain,’ reports Terri.