LEGEND has it that a medieval soldier who was murdered in the banqueting hall of a North-East manor house is still buried in the corner.

People have told of feeling an icy hand on their back while in the room at Crook Hall, in Durham.

It is thought that the turbulent soul of the visiting soldier still haunts the hall. He was believed to have been stabbed in the stomach in the middles ages in a fight over a woman.

Current owner Maggie Bell heard he was buried in the wall to hush up the murder but she cannot be sure.

Mrs Bell welcomed visitors to the hall on Sunday and yesterday as part of the regular ghost hunts. She said: "We found out about him when a lady who said she can see ghosts came to see us about the another ghost.

"She walked past the wall and all of the colour drained from her face.

"She went really white and then told us what had happened as if it was fact."

The story was strengthened when a catering company visited to prepare for a wedding.

Mrs Bell said: "I heard a blood-curdling scream and everyone ran in to see this woman trembling.

"She had run out of the room and knocked things over as she left. She said she had felt a man put an icy hand on her back.

"A lot of people say they get a sinister feeling when they walk past that wall."

Crook Hall is also said to be haunted by the white lady who visitors say they see in the Jacobean room.

She is believed to the niece of the fiery-tempered Cuthbert Billingham, who owned the hall in 1615.

More than 300 people visited over the weekend.

Mrs Bell said: "It has been great because we have been really busy. We have had loads of people here and they have been getting a bit scared.

"We don't allow young children, because it really does get a bit spooky. People have been jumping around all over the place."