The equipment - available as a full 63-piece kit or as individual component items - is exactly the same as that used by CSIs (Crime Scene Investigators) and SOCOs (Scene of Crime Officers) in many first-world Police forces.

"At first encounter you'd maybe ask 'who on earth would want a kit like this?' But the answer is that there is a vast range of potential user groups. As well as students at any of the UK's 47 universities providing forensic courses - where there are also huge waiting lists - they are also suitable for private or corporate investigators, and even for amateur

sleuths seeking to solve minor domestic or workplace mysteries," said Iain Macauley, a spokesman for Northwich, Cheshire-based CSI-Inc.

"We would not encourage vigilante-ism, but there are minor mysteries in every workplace or household - and in the same way that somebody might get hooked on chemistry experiments, it is possible to get hooked on forensic

investigation.  "Forensics, however, has an edge - a 'wow' factor: the seemingly impossible, implausible or invisible revealed to the human eye and brain by a mixture of equipment, processes, deduction, creativity and intelligence.

"CSI television shows are massively popular viewing - both fact and fiction.  They create intrigue and drama, but leave many of us wondering if we could solve crimes if only we had the equipment.

"We're taking orders from murder mystery clubs who are moving themselves out of the Sherlock Holmes era - and introducing forensics to their investigations. Team building organisations are taking a similar interest. "The CSI-Inc equipment and accompanying instructions are not fragile

single-use kits from toy shops, they are state-of-the-science packs of must-have gadgets, tested and proven - and used by - the world's top forensic investigators."

The CSI-Inc range features a vast array of equipment, including basics such as swabs, sterile containers, evidence bags, a blood test kit, a casting gun for tool marks, a full fingerprint kit, overalls and over-shoes and gloves.  Also included are bloodstain interpretation kit, shoe mark lifter sheets and much more. There is a choice of either walkie-talkies and casting gun, or a "flat beam" Aspherilux torch depending upon which kit is specified. However, much of the inventory is available separately: fingerprint kits with a variety of magnetic and non-magnetic powders and brushes; Smith & Wesson orange view filter glasses, which, when used in conjunction with a blue light source in a low-light area will reveal evidence of blood, semen, other body fluids and hairs and fibres; body bags and inflatable bodies and other equipment.

Individual items are available from between £14 and £359. Refills of chemicals are also available. The 63-piece kits are hand-assembled using high-quality content, therefore have a turn-around of up to 28 days. "For those inclined, with the ability and resource - and with the support or agreement of the legal or personnel departments - there is the potential to

solve petty workplace crime: missing stock, rule breaking, money and possessions disappearing," said Iain.

"And on the domestic scene, for instance, with the Homespy' kit it is possible to test for evidence of drug use, and the kit also includes a special spray which makes envelopes see-through and so reveals the contents.

"With this equipment and technology, it is possible - assuming one has the know-how - to walk onto a crime-scene and solve that crime. We can go part of the way to helping amateurs gain that know-how by providing a range of

instruction laminates to accompany the kits or equipment."

The 63-piece industry-standard CSI Kit costs between £495 and £565, plus delivery, depending upon the desired inventory. It is continually being updated with the latest equipment as it becomes available.

Meanwhile, for those traditionalists who have a tighter budget or want to start with the basics of forensic detection, CSI-Inc recommends its cutting edge Fingerprint Kit available from £265.