Horror of the bowling alley

Staff at Ocean Bowling at Ravenside Retail Park have been given the chills to such an extent by what they think could be a ghoul, they have asked a pair of mediums to help.

Workers have reported seeing shadowy figures and feeling a presence at night.

They also claim to have witnessed mysterious temporary malfunctions of equipment and felt unexplained draughts.

Medium Michael Kingscote and Colin Fuller, a medium and president of a local spiritualist church, have been asked to investigate tomorrow night.

Michael has made a preliminary visit and he already believes the bowling alley may be haunted.

He says a past explosion on the old gas works where the retail park is based may provide an explanation.

The pair will return with specialist ghost-hunting equipment, including heat sensors, cameras and recorders.

They will stay over night in an attempt to find the cause of the mystery and hopefully solve the problem.

Michael said: "Lots of staff have had experiences but the common denominator seems to be this shadowy figure.

"When I went in there all I could smell was gas. One of the staff did some investigating and discovered the explosion on the old gas work site so that could be one option.

"Hopefully we can collect some information.

"We could be looking at a spirit, in which case there is a ceremony we can do that helps them move on.

"It could also be residual energy which is something you get left over from large events, such as an explosion.

"It is not a ghost as such but sort of a TV or video of the event permanently stuck on play, in which case you need to shut off the charge.

"The staff are getting a little bit windy about it all - especially around the bar. Our equipment shows temperature changes and that's something you can really notice if there is something there.

"We will do our best to find out what is going on."

Assistant manager Michael Richer said: "Certainly there have been stories of people seeing figures so I have no problem with them coming in and seeing if they can deal with the situation. it can't do any harm.

"If they can find something and lay it to rest then good luck to them."