IS Oxfordshire the UK’s most haunted county?

That is the belief of Wesley Osborne, who has just set up a group to explore the supernatural underbelly of the historic county.

If there’s something strange in the neighbourhood, who you gonna call? The British Institute of the Paranormal Research and Investigation, formed by Mr Osborne and psychic medium Vanessa Leigh.

They will start by looking at the history of the location, and cross-reference this against interviews from eye-witnesses to the unexplained.

READ MORE: Five of the most haunted buildings in Oxfordshire 

Mr Osborne, who lives in Longcot, near Faringdon, said: “Oxfordshire is a very haunted county.

“I think there’s a lot of stuff we disbelieve as everyday stuff.

“Oxfordshire has such a rich history, even dating back to the English Civil War and one of the theories is when there’s a tragic or traumatic event, things get imprinted around you like a video.

“You only have to put Oxfordshire into a search engine to see.”

Oxford Mail:

Mr Osborne, who works in IT, said his fascination began with his first ‘experience’ while he was at Birmingham university.

The 51-year-old explained that the room which he shared with a friend had a rocking chair in the corner.

One night, after falling asleep, he woke up to see the chair swinging – but shrugged it off, after assuming his room-mate was playing a joke.

He said: “The next day, my friend turned around and said, ‘what the hell were you doing with the rocking chair last night?’”

Despite the chilling realisation that his room was potentially haunted, he didn’t begin to investigate invisible activity until he moved to Virginia in America.

There he joined an open-minded sceptics group ‘which I guess you could call me’ he explained.

The group went on several excursions, some very sinister – including a trip to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky.

The infirmary was built in 1910 as a hospital for about 50 patients with tuberculosis (TB), and has since been dubbed a ‘ghost asylum and paranormal lockdown’.

Mr Osborne, who moved to Oxfordshire around three years ago, said they heard footsteps and loud noises, some even witnessing ‘shadow people’ walking between the rooms.

He said: “As a sceptic I would say ‘is that the light from outside?’

“It’s always difficult to get evidence of these thing but I have a healthy fascination with trying to get to the bottom of it. Is there life after death?

“I like to be able to put minds to rest if there are any rational reasons.”

Once he said he was called to a house where the TV channels kept flicking between stations.

However, it transpired that the next-door neighbours had the same remote control.

With their new group, Mr Osborne hopes to bring a scientific scepticism to work at Oxfordshire's most haunted hotspots alongside the skills of his colleague Ms Leigh, who lives in Birmingham and claims she can feel, hear and see spirits.

To report unexplained activity visit bipri.co.uk