They face things every night that make ordinary people go weak.
But in a Yarmouth pub on Saturday, 6 September 2003, the Bassetlaw Research Group saw something truly scary – a rival group of paranormal experts.

The group had been called in to deal with a ghostly problem but the evening had come unstuck with the entrance of three members of a rival research group who began dowsing – using a crystal on a string to search for ghosts – in front a bar full of bemused drinkers.

The intruders were eventually seen off after Bassetlaw leader David Wharmby told them they were disturbing the vibrations – leaving the rightful investigators in charge of Yarmouth’s White Horse Inn.

The White Horse Inn, Great Yarmouth.

Landlady Debbie Bee is pinning her hopes on David’s expertise for, until now, she has not had a ghost of a chance of selling the pub.

The 17th century beamed inn in the heart of the town could be a buyer’s dream but Aldreds, the estate agents handling the sale, has found the reputed ghosts a major stumbling block.

Ms Bee, 44, has been trying to sell the Northgate Street pub since before Christmas, and called in the ghost hunters to find a way to show her unwelcome guests the door.

Three mediums have identified seven ghosts, two living round the pool table. David had barely walked through the door before he identified a child killed in a fire and a woman, possibly Victorian, possibly called Mary.
Ms Bee explained that the ghosts became a problem towards the end of last year after a disused weighbridge collapsed outside the pub.

In repairing the road, council workmen filled in a forgotten tunnel that connected the pub to St Nicholas’ churchyard on the other side of Northgate Street – and this was the apparent trigger for a catalogue of strange happenings.

Ms Bee said: “The ghost of a little boy likes pulling quilts off beds, figures walk across the floor, lights go on and off, doors slam, electrics keep blowing – it has cost a fortune repairing washing machines and freezers.”

Her friend Debby Slack said: “We had to take the locks off the women’s toilets because customers kept on being mysteriously locked in, even though the locks were broken.

“To be honest, I am so used to it I hardly notice it any more.”

Staff will only go down to the cellar in pairs after one of them saw a ghostly figure, and they also say they have seen pool balls moving by themselves, pint glasses flying from shelves and apparitions running through the building.

After more than six months of it, Ms Bee called the group in after hearing them interviewed on Radio Broadland.

They set up cameras, UV lighting, EMF detectors (ghosts are supposed to have strong electromagnetic fields) and walkie-talkies.

All five say they feel a presence in the pub watching them. “It’s waiting,” says David.

Speaking the next day, David said: “We passed an extremely quiet night, paranormally speaking – one of the ones which makes you question whether a place is really haunted.

“We did see a few inexplicable things – the cloth covering the pub parrot’s cage was flung back and one of the pool balls was potted. We also heard footsteps in a part of the house where there were no people and a noise like heavy furniture being dragged.

“But we did not hear any voices or see anything else.”

LOCATION