WHEN drinkers report ghostly apparitions lurking in our pubs darkest corners, most would blame it on the booze.

But it is not just bar-room brawls and blurred vision that account for flying ashtrays and dark figures looking disapprovingly at drinkers.

Local historian and ghost expert Bob Woodhouse reckons there are other forces at work, and has fittingly chosen a pub to tell people his theories.

Mr Woodhouse, who has had several books published on local walks and ghostly goings-on, is giving a light-hearted talk on local pubs and their ghosts at the Black Bull, in Yarm, Teesside, next Tuesday.

Seemingly, one of the few old pubs in Teesside that doesn't claim a resident ghost, it is nonetheless a fitting venue for his talk that forms part of Stockton Council's Adult Education Service's Learning and Skills Bite-Size Campaign.

It is hoped people will be sufficiently spooked to sign up for one of Mr Woodhouse's full-time courses on the weird and wonderful world of local history.

"You can explain away many of our ghosts, whether it's through too much ale or tall-tales, but a nucleus of them are unexplained," he said.

"Most famously, there was the case of the Angel Inn, in Stokesley, in 1983, when the nation's media descended on the town.

"People had seen candles re-light on their own after being snuffed out, a figure looking like a Catholic priest who watched people disapprovingly, and most famously a large glass ashtray flew off the bar and smashed against the wall.

"Another one I'll mention is the Ketton Ox, in Yarm, an 18th Century pub where people report an uneasy feeling and a baby crying when there's no one around."

Mr Woodhouse has been researching local history for 40 years and written 18 books, including one on the supernatural.

So what's his theory on the existence or otherwise of our resident pub ghosts?

"Some of them are associated with recent deaths and a lot of activity is linked with people in an emotional state.

"But I don't want to give too much away or no one will come to my talk."

Mr Woodhouse's talk on pubs and their ghosts is at the Black Bull pub, in High Street, starting at 10am