GHOSTS, ghouls and things that go bump in the night are usually a subject reserved for Halloween but a retired teacher believes they are far more common than previously imagined.

Dave Shotten, who lives in Belmont, near Durham City, became interested in the paranormal about 18 months ago, after visiting a spiritualist church.

The former chemist and maths teacher is keen to meet other people who would like to find out more about the ghostly history of the city, and has set up the Durham Paranormal Research Group.

He hopes the group will be able to help him build up a picture of paranormal activity in the county.

"If you go into any of the collections of ghost stories, the North-East is a bit of a black- spot as far as documentation is concerned," he said.

"There are some well-known hauntings in York, and the castles of Northumberland are supposed to be fairly well haunted, but there are only a handful in the Durham area.

"One of the best-known examples is at Finchale Priory where a lady is reputed to walk across a wooden bridge but I would like to find out more."

With his background in chemistry, Mr Shotten is also interested in finding scientific explanations for paranormal activity.

He believes photographs taken with digital cameras could lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of the spirit world.

He said: "Quite often they show things which don't appear on ordinary film, like unexplained balls of blue light, called orbs. It appears this is the way that a ghost or spirit appears to a camera.

"What I want to do most of all is stir up some scientific interest."

Mr Shotten works closely with Val Pattison, a renowned psychic from Chester-le-Street.

She said: "These photo-graphs are impossible to fake and we decided to investigate a bit further to see what we could find out.

"We want to hear from people who may have similar pictures, so we can find out where spiritual activity is going on in the area.

"If anyone has a haunted house, for example, we will come and see what we can pick up."

For more information about the group and its work, telephone Mr Shotten 0191-384 6583 or (07944) 833788.