SPOOK specialist Mike White is on the lookout for terrifying tales.

The 37-year-old from Wantage is convinced there must be plenty of stories about ghosts and other folklore emanating from an area so steeped in the past.

And now he wants to hear from anyone with a strange story or two to tell for a book he is researching on the subject of ghosts in Oxfordshire.

Mike, who works as a civil servant in Cheltenham, belongs to a small group of like-minded enthusiasts calling themselves Cotswold Paranormal Investigations.

He admits he has never seen a ghost himself, but believes he may have heard the voice of one - a 17th century plague victim - in the cellar of a pub in Gloucester. The father-of-two admitted: "I've been interested in the subject for years and years - it's always seemed to fascinate me. A number of members of our group have seen ghosts, but I never have yet, although I live in hope!"

Mike said that he and the other members of the CPI follow up strange stories throughout the Cotswold area as far afield as the Welsh borders, but that he is are particularly keen to explore the myths and legends of south Oxfordshire.

"It's got a long and involved history and there must be a large number of stories from the area which I would love to hear about and record."

Write to Mike at 11 Steptoe Close, Wantage, OX12 0AY, with your tales.

"I'm interested in any hearsay stories - 'Eddie once saw something up on the moors one night' - that sort of thing."

Mike admits his wife, Jackie, does not share his interest in spooks.

"It's a little esoteric for her taste - she thinks it's a bit strange!" he said. "Once I was sitting down the cellar of an old pub in Gloucester with someone else and we heard a voice speaking although there was no-one there.

"The place was supposed to be haunted by a girl who had died of the plague in the 1600s. We heard this report that instead of reporting her illness as he should have done, the landlord had offered to lock her down the cellar!"

"No-one seems to have tackled this area for ghost stories, but it must be rich in them, what with having Britain's oldest road, the Ridgeway, running through the area, ancient hill forts, burial mounds and the White Horse Hill," he said.

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