THE sight of a bride in a country hotel should not normally instill fear.

But when a boy saw the woman sitting in a room at the George Hotel, in Piercebridge, near Darlington, general manager Geoff Kernon says a shiver went down his spine.

For many years, the hotel has been rumoured to be haunted by the ghost of a bride, who hanged herself.

Locals have nicknamed the apparition Matilda, but until recently she had not been seen for several years.

Mr Kernon said: "It's been a long-standing story that there has been this ghost and I've never believed a word of it.

"Then, the other day, we had a family with a young boy staying. He'd been running around the hotel and all of a sudden he started saying he'd seen a bride.

"We didn't have a wedding party staying and none of us could see anything.

"As you can imagine, a shiver went down my spine when I heard him talking about the bride."

The sighting was in the Dick Turpin room, which is situated next to two blocked-off rooms. The rooms were never decorated when the hotel was refurbished 30 or 40 years ago, and are rumoured to be where the bride hanged herself.

Not much is known about the story behind Matilda, although it has been speculated she may have been jilted on her wedding night.

Mr Kernon said: "The locals tell you a story one week and it's a completely different story the next.

"We've had people looking into the story, and Keith Proud is researching a book on the George, but, as yet, nothing's turned up.

"I've been here for three years and this is the second time she's been spotted, although guests have said they have felt a presence before. It was quite scary though as the boy was only about eight and couldn't have know about Matilda."