THE answer is in the stars - and it has been found by your ascending Citizen!

Puzzled Preston people could not agree whether or not there is a leap year at the turn of the Century.

And after a mammoth - and fruitless hunt - round dusty Home Office departments in London, we have finally found the answer right on our doorstep, tucked away on the shelves of the Harris Library!

Its all to do with the stars and planets in our solar system - and how time was measured by the Romans.

The confusion first arose following our story about this year's Leap Year babies. According to the Royal Preston Hospital - and some other local newspapers circulating in a lesser orbit - the babies born on February 29 would not celebrate their first birthday until 2004. There would be no Leap Year in four year's time as it is the Millennium.

Not so! said Preston mum Christine Rigby, who is something of an expert on the subject: She too is a leap year baby.

Christine - who would only give her 'real' age of 12 - said the year 2000 IS a leap year.

"Normally, there is no leap year at the turn of the century. But if the year is divisible by 400, there is. The last one was in 1600," she said. "I looked it up in Reader's Digest."

The Citizen went in search of the answer. We asked is there a leap year in 2000? And more to the point - who decides, and why!

The government's Central Office of Information hadn't a clue who was in charge of fixing dates in the calendar.

"If it's the Millennium, then try the Heritage Department," they said.

A woman there said: "It's nothing to do with us. Try the Home Office."

A helpful Linda Henshaw at the Home Office said: "I'm sorry, but this office only deals with Summertime. Our Bank Holiday department might be able to help."

Lorna Duffy - in charge of Bank Holidays - said: "Mmmm. I don't deal with leap years myself. I know there is one in 2000, but for the life of me I don't know why. Perhaps you'd do better if you looked it up in Whittaker's Almanac."

Back to Preston's Harris Library - and the answer was sitting on the shelves of the reference section.

It's all to do with equinoctial year - or the time it takes the earth to revolve round the sun. It takes exactly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds - give or take the odd second!

Bissextile - or extra days - have to be added to keep the earth aligned with the sun - if the year can be divided by four (which works out once every four years). At the end of the century, a day is added only if it can be divided exactly by 400.

Head of the Moor Park observatory Keith Robinson - a bit of an expert in mathematical astronomy - said: "Julius Caesar introduced the leap year in 45BC - but he didn't get it quite right. By 1582 we were so far out of alignment with the sun, Pope Gregory 13th that year axed ten days out of October. He brought in the calculation for the millennium leap years."

So, it's official! Mrs Rigby WILL be celebrating her 13th birthday in the year 2000.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.