IT sounds like a tale that only Hollywood could dream up - but a family insist they are being plagued by a frisky Roman ghost.

Now, Linda and Darren Morris are on the verge of calling in ghostbusters to rid their home of the saucy spectre.

The couple, from Norton, North Yorkshire, are convinced strange goings-on in their home are the work of a paranormal visitor - and local history enthusiasts believe they may have a point.

"It's stroked my knee and my hair several times. It's really creepy," said Mrs Morris, a mother of three.

"Once I was in the kitchen watching TV and I felt this hand stroking my leg. At first I thought it was Darren feeling romantic, but when I turned around to tell him off, there was no one there. My husband was in the other room.

"We've been told the house is built on top of a Roman burial site so I'm convinced it's something to do with that."

The inexplicable activity began soon after the family moved in to the house three years ago and they now want the amorous ghoul flushing out.

"I saw a shadow of a man in the kitchen when I first moved in," said Mr Morris. "We've been watching TV a few times and the channels just start to change themselves.

"We'll often hear banging noises upstairs and at one point the doorbell was ringing so often by itself I had to remove it."

A child's doll also appears to have taken to moving around the house of its own accord.

A spokeswoman for MAP archaeological consultants, of nearby Malton, confirmed that the site of the couple's home was thought to have been a Roman burial site.

"According to local records a Roman skeleton was found there in 1948," she said.

"Romans buried their dead at the side of roads and this site is right next to an ancient highway."