Life after death has puzzled every race since time began.

When I spent the night with a group of paranormal investigators at a haunted pub I expected some confirmation as to whether I'd be banging on St Peter's pearly gates to claim my place in heaven or lying six feet under and disappearing into the earth.

With its thatched roofs and dry stone cobbled walls set against a lonely autumn sunset, the quaint little country pub in my home town of Nottingham chosen for a night of ghost hunting certainly looked haunted.

The pub landlady backed this up with tales of an irate apparition smashing glasses in the dead of the night (though this could have been an uncouth local too drunk to find their way out from under the bar.)


Arriving at 10pm on a Saturday night meant that the village disco was in full swing.

Nothing is very spooky when "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners is playing in the room next door, but the group still tried to summon up spirits from beyond the grave.

"If there is any spirits in the room would you please give us a sign," asked Anne, the spiritual medium who was conducting the hunt.

If ghost hunting was really this simple then anyone could do it at the drop of a hat, and Derek Acorah would not have become rich from his TV programme 'Most Haunted'.

With no response Anne suggested we all try table tipping. Eight people on the hunt sat around a wooden table and linked hands to try and generate enough energy for a spirit to move the table.

"If everybody concentrates and tunes in their spiritual energy it will work," said Anne.

But still no signs from the ghostly glass smasher. Someone suggested banging drums very loudly to rouse the spirits from their sleep, but unfortunately no one has a 12" steel drum to hand.

With frustration growing, members of the group started pleading for a sign from the afterlife.

"Bang on the table if you can hear us," demanded Justin, another clairvoyant who has come along, "we are here to help you."

At this point he was overcome by a "cold presence" and ventured towards the bar where glasses were supposed to have been smashed.

A few seconds later there were two loud thuds on the roof above us.

Everybody gasped in amazement.

The pictures from this moment show two orbs (circular discs caught on camera which could be paranormal).

Whether or not the loud bangs on the roof and the orbs were a supernatural phenomenon is uncertain.

Everybody has there own ghost stories, but until I am not convinced, yet.