The hunt is afoot. Whether you have the swagger of John Wayne or the funny stride of John Cleese, the way each person walks and their foot falls or twists on the ground is so unique that forensic scientists plan to use it to catch criminals.

Sherlock Holmes was said to be an early master of reading footprints, first using the method of detection in the late 19th century. However, although it has become an established form of evidence for scientists and scene examiners, it looks only at the pattern detail on the sole of a shoe and any distinguishing features or unique damage.

Now Scottish experts are developing groundbreaking techniques to use podiatry, the scientific study of feet, to identify suspects, comparing how a person walks, how their foot falls on the ground and the different pressures associated with this.

Like a fingerprint, every foot leaves its own unique pattern on the surface it comes into contact with. Forensic scientists hope that once it is fully developed, the technique will allow them to identify criminals even once the soles of their shoes have worn out.

Andrew Bain, a Dumfries-based scene examiner, is researching how a person’s signature gait can be used to track suspects.

He is working with leading podiatrists at Glasgow Caledonian University and Sheffield Primary Care Trust on research which is expected to have worldwide applications.

The team is looking at the pressure areas on a foot relative to their gait and footprint. From this they have been able to identify if the person had worn particular shoes and whether they left certain wear marks, either on the outer sole or the inside of the shoe.

If a suspect agrees that their shoes left the footprints recovered from a crime scene but argues that someone else was wearing them, the new developments will help to prove or disprove this claim by matching the indentation marks on the shoe to the areas of greatest pressure caused when the person walks.

Mr Bain: “In a scenario like this, if a suspect has really walked the walk’ then the addition of this technique will make it much more difficult for him to talk the talk’ to get out of it.

“It could help to solve a crime 10 years on, despite the fact shoes wear out so quickly these days, because people’s walk tends not to change.”

The forensic experts hope to take this further by looking at particular correlations between a person’s height, their weight, BMI (body mass index), foot length and width and the type of foot they have to understand the impact that this has on their footprints they leave behind.

He added: “If the way a person walks and leaves a footprint is unique to them, then we should be able to record it for crime scene purposes and it should have evidential value. As people cannot yet fly, they have to walk into the crime scene.

“Allowing for certain illnesses, how you walk should generally remain with you for life. If we can record an image of how a suspect’s foot falls on a particular surface, and we know that this footprint remains consistent, we could then compare it to a mark left by a suspect at a crime scene.

“The patterns of existing footwear evidence, which can have a shorter lifespan due to additional damage and markings caused by further wear of the shoe by an individual, would also be strengthened by the new developments.”

Forensics already use DNA profiling, fingerprints, tyres and footprints to identify prime suspects but this, once fully developed, will make forensics cases stronger.

Gordon Burrow, senior lecturer in podiatry at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “There are certain characteristics on a person’s foot that will remain the same. For example, if you have bunions then they will always be present and will give you a certain wear mark.

“If you’ve got a very rigid first toe, then that will also give you a certain wear mark.

“Used on its own this will not necessarily convict a criminal but used alongside other evidence it will present a more robust case to the court.”