AN 18-YEAR-OLD girl, orphaned since the age of four, was found dead in her bed where she had been kept prisoner for most of her life.

The girl - known as Eleanor - was buried back in 1586, but her spirit lives on in the room where she died. If, that is, you believe in ghosts.

Eleanor is just one of 16 ghosts which allegedly haunt Chingle Hall, the 13th century cottage near Preston that is reputedly Britain's most haunted house.

And on one dark stormy night, I ventured down the hidden track hoping to catch a glimpse of Eleanor and some of her creepy cronies.

It was almost midnight when I joined ghost-busters from the Ghost Research Foundation huddled round a blazing fire in the Great Hall. The fireside chat set a scary scene for the night's encounter. Some said they had already met Eleanor; and a menacing monk who wanders the lonely corridors.

The 700-year-old house creaked and groaned in the blustering gale, the fire crackled and the rain rattled against the windows. And with each eery sound, the mystics raised their eyebrows and exchanged knowing glances.

By 3am, with no ghosts in sight they crept upstairs in search of an apparition.

But at 3.45am precisely, the grim night came alive! Psychic Sybil Lucas-Brewer, from Lea, in Preston, had been for a wander and spotted a spook. She had confronted Eleanor on the stairs! But Eleanor gave our excited psychic a right telling off: "You shouted at me," the spook said - fair comment for a 400-year-old corpse who likes a bit of peace and quiet! The problem is you can't book a date with a ghost. They'd probably be lousy timekeepers anyway!

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