THE new owners of a remote country pub with a grim past are refusing to be spooked by ghostly goings-on.

Nobody told Simon Tijou, 26, and partner Caz Field, 27, about the horrifying history of the Moorcock Inn before they moved in.

Thirty years ago, the pub, which lies between Hawes and Sedbergh, in North Yorkshire, was the scene of a tragic incident still vivid in the memory of some locals.

Twenty-four hours after landlords Ronald and Muriel Bucknell held a party to celebrate their retirement, the pair died in a fire. Their bodies were found side by side in the bar.

The cause of the blaze was not established, but there were suspicions it may have been started deliberately.

Another gruesome chapter in the pub's history happened on a stormy night in 1910.

Nine people died and 30 people were injured in a train crash on the nearby Settle to Carlisle line. The pub's cellar was used to store bodies before they were buried.

It took the new landlords less than 24 hours after moving in to experience their first unexplained occurrence.

They came down after their first night to find a chair in the middle of the bar facing the dartboard. The couple are convinced they had put all chairs under tables.

Days later, they were discussing the blaze which killed the former landlords when a fire extinguisher salesman walked through the door.

As he walked into the bar, a framed newspaper clipping about the fire fell off the wall.

Simon said: "We were both freaked out about that.

"Afterwards we had quiet words with the ghosts. I told them if they were there, I didn't mind as long as they didn't cause any trouble.

"We've not had any problems since."