Haunting is their ghoul

The North-East is reckoned to be one of the most haunted regions in Britain and there should be plenty of ghostly goings-on on Halloween night, on Wednesday.

Paranormal enthusiast Dave Shotten, a retired teacher from Belmont, near Durham City, reckons there will be enough activity for would-be ghostbusters all around the region.

Mr Shotten is a member of the Ghost Club of Great Britain, an organisation founded by Charles Dickens in 1860, and is researching for a book on photographs of ghosts.

He says that, judging from the response he had had from the public, especially around the Durham City area, the area is a haven for hauntings.

He said: "Durham City is particularly haunted. It may be due to the fact that it's an old city, or maybe it's an area that's unusually troubled.

"People tend to think of ghosts as being in old houses and these are usually the Grey Lady type phenomenon which now and again drift across the room.

"But new house ghosts tend to be an entirely different thing. They tend to be a complete nuisance and people want rid of them and these are the photographs I'm interested in."

Mr Shotten's researches were recently interrupted when a poltergeist entered his house, which he had exorcised.

He said: "I discovered I had a poltergeist when drawing pins started popping out of my notice board, so I had to go through an exorcism and I hope I've seen the back of it."

Tales of things that go bump in the night abound throughout the region. They include the friendly ghost of Senor Trino Pepi, reputed to haunt the Civic Theatre in Darlington walking the aisles with his dog.

A ghostly rider on a grey horse is said to gallop across the countryside between West Auckland and Hamsterley, in County Durham, his face bloody and terror-stricken.

And a phantom hearse, with headless horse and driver, has been seen careering past Coalpark Gill, Langley Park, near Durham, the former site of a magnificent Tudor hall