A number of paranormal investigation groups contacted me this week, offering to look into the strange case of Desmond Davies' "haunted chair".

I reported last week how Desmond, 86, of Northville, Bristol, is mystified by what happens overnight to the chair at his writing desk – he finds the seat has collapsed and an arm has worked loose, and he wonders if there might be a supernatural explanation.

But a paranormal investigation has been postponed because I also heard from Mysterious West reader Peter Iles, of Undy, Monmouthshire, who said: "I think I can solve Desmonds 'haunted chair' problem as this has happened to me.

"It is the gas strut that supports the chair which, after a few years, seems to lose pressure, and the seat collapses gradually over time – yet, magically, you can jack it back up until the next time.

"Desmond has been lucky his has lasted so long. A good cheap dodge is to get a large jubilee clip and, after jacking the chair back up, fit this tightly around the top of the chair support where it enters the strut at his favourite height. His chair will then not sink again in the night!"

However, Desmond didn't believe his chair had a gas strut, and told me was going to carry out an experiment of his own by fitting a steel tube to the seat support so that it would be impossible for it to be lowered – but the arm of the chair was still working loose, he said.