GIN, whiskey and rum are top-shelf staples of pubs. But spirits of another kind are also abundant in The Foresters Arms, near Darlington, according to the pub's landlady, who says she was mysteriously locked in a beer cellar overnight.

Kate Umpleby spent nine hours in the chilly cellar of the pub, in Coatham Mundeville, when the door to the room slammed and locked behind her as she restocked fridges on Sunday night.

The 37-year-old, who has been running the pub for only two weeks, had checked that the pub was empty.

Despite her fears that thieves were responsible, the till and its contents were undisturbed when she was discovered by her boyfriend, Gregg, in the morning.

"They were the longest nine hours of my life," she said.

"When I was found I was cold, shaking and frightened. I had to have a rather large medicinal to calm me down.

"I knew I'd be selling enough spirits, but I didn't realise I was going to be living with them as well."

The pub is being renovated and, to stop punters falling down the stairs, workmen have fixed a bolt to the beer cellar door.

When Miss Umpleby's boyfriend returned from London on Monday morning, he found the bolt locked but no sign of intruders.

"I'm convinced the place is haunted," Miss Umpleby said.

"My dog has taken to whimpering when he comes downstairs.

"He's a rottweiler and hard as nails, but since we've moved in, he's been acting like a bit of a baby."

Previous landlords and tenants have complained of mysterious happenings in the pub. One landlord asked for it to be blessed by a medium, who sensed a spiritual presence in the bar.

Former landlord Frank O'Neill said the ghosts were nuns roused from a nunnery that was on the site centuries ago.

But despite the ghoulish history of the pub, Miss Umpleby said she would not leave her home.

"I'm not going to run screaming,"

she said.