A GRIM murder in an old pub and a mysterious lady on a white horse are just two of the spooky tales haunting Wantage folk.

John Betjeman enthusiast Jim Mitchell is looking for stories to create the town’s first ghost tour as part of next year’s Wantage Betjeman Festival in November.

Poet Laureate Sir John lived in Wantage from 1951 to 1972.

Mr Mitchell, artistic director of the festival, said: “John Betjeman was particularly fond of ghost stories and experienced several apparitions himself. He seemed rather sensitive to other dimensions.

“There is a tremendous appetite for ghost stories. I think it’s about the question of whether it’s true or not. I think people love to be scared.

“But it also encourages an interest in history – the older buildings and the old legends in Wantage as well.”

So far the 67-year-old has gathered a handful of folklore tales.

People have heard screams at the site of a former pub, the White Hart in Newbury Street, where the landlady was decapitated in a gruesome murder in 1834.

Staff at the Bear Hotel in Market Place have reported seeing the figure of a young woman, said to have drowned in a vat of beer.

There is also said to be the ghost of a housemaid in an old house in Priory Road. Legend has it she was exiled after being impregnated by a Napoleonic prisoner of war.

Mr Mitchell, who lives in The Cloisters, Wantage, said: “It’s amazing how much information we’ve already collected. Almost every elderly person I’ve asked seems to remember something.”

Villages around the town also have their stories.

It is said a lady riding a white horse haunts a watercress patch in Letcombe Regis.

There has also been a sighting of 17th century soldiers with the lower part of their legs missing at a barn in Ginge.

Mr Mitchell also wants to discover the stories behind how Gallows Lane and Gallows Bridge in Wantage got their names.

So does he believe in ghosts? “I’ve got an open mind on it,” he said.

If you have a ghost story for Mr Mitchell call him on 01235 767975 or email jim@wantagebetjeman.com