The Sun – 30 January 2009

HOSPITAL managers have called in an exorcist after shaken workers complained they are being terrified by a GHOST.
Spooked staff at Derby’s new Royal Hospital claimed a black-clad figure wearing a cloak was stalking wards and corridors.

Now chiefs at the £334million NHS site are to summon a local priest to see off the “spirit”.
Petrified staff were briefed on the spooky goings-on in an email from bosses.

Senior manager Debbie Butler wrote: “I’m not sure how many of you are aware that some members of staff have reported seeing a ghost.

“I’m taking it seriously as the last thing I want is staff feeling uneasy at work.”

Ms Butler sent the message after workers at the new £334million Royal Derby Hospital claimed they had seen a cloaked figure dressed in black roaming wards and corridors.
She added: “I don’t want to scare anyone any more than necessary, but felt it was best I made you all aware of the situation and what we are doing about it.

“I’ve spoken to the Trust’s chaplain and she is going to arrange for someone from the cathedral to exorcise the department.”

Derby was recently named the most haunted place in Britain, with more reports of ghosts, poltergeists, werewolves and other supernatural phenomena than anywhere else in the UK.

The Supernatural Britain Report, conducted by Lionel Fanthorpe an expert on the paranormal, examined ghostly goings-on in 40 cities across the UK and compiled a list of the ten most spooky places in the country.
 
History … developers built over road despite demosMr Fanthorpe found there had been 315 reports of ghosts, poltergeists, werewolves and vampires in Derby since records began – an average 14 sightings per 10,000 members of its population.

Sources at the Royal – built on the site of the Derby City General Hospital – said the exorcism was expected within days.

One said: “There have been dozens of sightings over recent weeks and people are scared witless.

“Several have seen a male figure cloaked from head to toe in black darting between rooms and through walls – especially in departments near the morgue.

“It’s affected morale so much that bosses decided they had to act.” Exorcisms in England must be pre-approved by a bishop.
A spokesman for the Bishop of Derby said: “Any case such as this is put to the Bishop.

“He would seek proper advice before taking action.”

Experts said the spirit could be the ghost of a Roman soldier killed on the spot where the original hospital was built in the 1920s. Developers ignored protests and covered over part of one of Ancient Britain’s main Roman roads.
Ian Wilce, of the Ghost-finder Paranormal Society, said: “There are lots of sightings on such sites.”

The hospital, still known as the City General, will be officially renamed as the Royal in coming months.

A spokeswoman for Derby Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We take information from staff seriously and are working with the hospital chaplaincy to put people’s minds at ease.”

 http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2189230.ece

BBC News By Johnny Caldwell – Monday, 5 January 2009

This time of year is traditionally associated with high spirits as revellers welcome in another year.

However, a spirit of a different kind has been causing a bit of a commotion outside Coalisland in County Tyrone.

Supposed sightings of a ghost have led to crowds of people descending on the Brackaville area over the holidays.

“It looks an old woman with a white dress and a long white cape down her back,” said 17-year-old Ryan Bell who claims to have seen the ghost at least six times.

“Along Flush Hill there are three telegraph polls and she appears to come out of the hedge at the second poll, run across the road and stop at the same spot every time.

Ryan’s father Raymond runs a pub a short distance from where the ghost has supposedly been seen by him and others.

“I wasn’t scared when I saw her, I just got the creeps,” said the teenager who didn’t believe in ghosts before his experience.

“She would have been in hers 80s or 90s, she also looked very sad and as if she was lost.”

 Sinn Féin Councillor Desmond Donnelly said would-be ghostbusters had been flocking to the area.

“At one point, there was a line of up to 60 cars on the Mullaghmoyle Road with people trying to spot it,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Desmond Donnelly.

“It wasn’t just one night, it was going on for a week or so over the holidays. I wouldn’t be one for ghosts, but you know how this type of thing spreads.

“If you ask me, it’s more likely to be a reflection of the moon on the river that flows through the area. Although the talk is that what was seen was in the shape of a person.”

Pat Hughes, speaking at the Central Bar in Coalisland, said the sighting had got people in the town talking.

“Everybody’s been talking about it in the bar and it has also caught the imagination of young people,” he said.

“It has got to the stage where it’s a bit like a drive-in movie.”

‘Paranormal’

As with these sorts of things, rumours about what was or was not seen quickly spread. It was claimed the apparition was a woman who had lived locally.

Warren Coates of the Northern Ireland Paranormal Research Association (NIPRA) said he was aware of “previous paranormal activity” in the area.

“It related to a phantom female hitchhiker, but if anybody down there would like us to investigate this latest sighting, we’d only be too happy to help,” he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7811761.stm