Spooks spark a ghost hunt

Ghosthunters will be paying a visit to The Royal Oak pub in Corsham after they heard about the hostelry's ghostly goings-on.

The Twelfth Hour Investigations team from Bradford on Avon contacted the pub to ask if they could come and do tests on the building under the cover of darkness.

The Royal Oak staff will be joining the investigation team at the pub later this month to see if they can find anything or anyone unusual.

Jan Taylor, barmaid at The Royal Oak, said: "I can see why they want to come. I've seen something here. I was at the top of the stairs and I saw a black figure out the corner of my eye.

"I wasn't scared at all. I just carried on. That sort of thing doesn't bother me."

Another member of staff also claims that the pub can be spooky at night when the customers have all gone.

It is not the first time that the ghost hunters have turned their attention to Corsham.

The first ever Twelfth Hour investigation took place two years ago at the Corsham Heritage Centre in the High Street.

Sharon Stevens, 50, who is a co-founder of the team, said: "We are a group of normals who all have an interest in the paranormal.

"A lot of it stems from us having paranormal experiences in the past. We phone up locations that are supposedly haunted and then ask if we can go along and do investigations."

Mrs Stevens' daughter Hayley, 20, formed the group two years ago and it now has seven members.

Even the Twelfth Hour team used to find themselves having sleepless nights after a sit-in.

Mrs Stevens claims to have seen a shadow ghost at The Shires shopping centre in Trowbridge. She said: "Being the brave paranormal investigator I am, I shouted a few choice words and then ran off."

The group will be at the pub in Corsham High Street from 10pm on September 29.

The Twelfth Hour team has investigated several other locations across Wiltshire including The Bear Hotel in Chippenham and an unnamed location in Calne.