A Requiem Communion service conducted by Canon J D Pearce-Higgins, of Southwark Cathedral, in 1989 means that this hotel may now be free of its ghost - an 18-year-old boy who hid treasure stolen from nearby Mettingham Parish Church in the Three Tuns and later hanged himself there in 1682 after discovering his wife was having an affair.

Mettingham Parish Church.

The Canon, at the invitation of Mr Brian Prime, proprietor of the Three tuns, went to investigate unexplained occurrences at the hotel, including a ghost said to have been the subject of contact by seances attended by Mr Prime and some friends.

After the service, Canon Pearce-Higgins, said he had decided against a service of exorcism. "A service of exorcism is applicable only to demons and devils, if they exist," he said, "whereas happenings such as have occurred here in this hotel are caused by earth-bound human beings, who do not know they are dead. They are lost souls, and the Requiem Mass is to pray for their release and enlightenment."

The Canon thought there was probably more than one spirit at the hotel. He later sealed off the hotel by making the sign of a cross over the doors with Holy water, and then set off for London to continue his investigations.

The story of the ghost was revealed by Mr Mervyn Blakeway, of Beccles, who told of strange happenings at the Three Tuns where he was formerly employed as assistant manager.

Seances attended by the hotel's proprietor, Mr Prime, Mrs Lucy Leggett, hotel manageress, Mrs Leslie Beckett, a Bungay hairdresser, Mrs Beryl Longshaw, a former barmaid at the hotel living in the Bungay area and himself, said Mr Blakeway, had been conducted with great interest and enthusiasm at the Three Tuns.

"I personally experienced strange, and originally, frightening occurrences at the hotel," Mr Blakeway continued, "and at the seances we made contact with the spirit of an 18-year-old youth. The spirit answered the questions by moving a glass, and said his name was Rex Bocon. He had Dutch or Flemish connections, and in 1682, when 18, discovered his wife was having an affair. He subsequently killed both wife and lover, then hanged himself from a beam on a landing at the Three Tuns.

"The spirit also claimed that he had stolen treasure from Mettingham Parish Church, where his father was vicar, hiding it in the hotel."

Although Mr Blakeway never saw a ghost, he spoke of a "presence" he could often feel in certain rooms at the hotel, and of the unexplained opening and closing of a window in his bedroom. "One particular window in the room would always be closed in the morning, if I left it open on going to bed, and would always be open if I left it closed. On another occasion a different window facing my room into a corridor, slammed with such force that it must have been pushed."

Mr Blakeway was at the time living alone at the Three Tuns, and while at first disturbed by such happenings in what he described as the hotel's "dark interior," he later decided to challenge the ghost, cheerfully calling, "Good night Rex," on going to bed, and "Come on Rexie boy, let me see you," after climbing in the dark to the landing where the ghost claimed he hanged himself.

At his hairdressing shop at 6 Broad Street, Bungay, Mr Beckett on Saturday confirmed Mr Blakeway's story, except for saying he thought the ghost's name was Bacon rather than Bocon, and that he did not kill his wife, but only her lover before his suicide. He agreed with Mr Blakeway on the Mettingham Church treasure story, but did not believe there was any hidden treasure in the Three Tuns.

"During one of the seances," he said, "I saw a white ghost-like figure in a corner of one of the hotel's rooms, and I later discovered that there used to be a door where the figure disappeared through the wall. Also, there is one particular spot in the hotel which always makes me go cold."

Mr Prime broke his silence after Monday's service however, when asked if he were satisfied he would now hear no more from the ghost. "I have never been particularly bothered in any case," he said. "I invited the Canon because the strange happenings here fascinated rather than alarmed me. I just wanted to know what was going on."

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