'Ghost mystery' of accident black spot

Drivers have mysteriously lost control of their cars

Villagers think a ghost could be to blame for a series of accidents on a country road.

Locals believe the ghost of a road accident victim from more than 60 years ago could be haunting a stretch of the A465 near Bromyard in Herefordshire.

A farmer says as many as 26 drivers have crashed into his fence in the same place over the last 18 months.

Some motorists have reported mysteriously losing control of the steering.

I'm not ruling anything out as many things go on that people can't explain

Councillor Richard James

Checks on the cambers, speed checks and improved road markings have all failed to stop the crashes.

County councillor Richard James says some motorists who lost control of their vehicles reported the sensation of having their steering wheels pulled from their hands.

Mystery psychic

And a meeting in a country pub added to his suspicion that the supernatural could be to blame for the crashes.

Mr James was in the Crown and Sceptre in Bromyard when a man he had never seen before approached him saying "Don't worry, no-one will die there".

Richard James: "Freaked out"

The mystery man, who claimed to be a psychic, told Mr James a woman had died on the road in the 1920s or '30s after a struggle over the steering wheel.

Mr James says he had not previously discussed the crashes with anybody: 'It was a strange conversation and it really freaked me out."

Neil Redding from Hereford lost control of his car on the road and crashed through the fence in July 2002.

"The wheels wouldn't react for a second or so.

"I don't know what it was as I wasn't going fast by any means - 99% of the time it would never have happened.

"I couldn't believe it. The farmer turned up and said 'not another one!'

"I wouldn't say it was anything weird though."

Identical location

The parish council in Stoke Lacy is now seeking the assistance of Reverend Keith Crouch.

The clerk Carole Surman, who called in Mr Crouch, is keeping an open mind.

"'I can't understand it.

"There are no skid marks... people roll their cars but no one ever gets hurt and it's always in exactly the same place.

"Until we know what's causing these accidents we can't stop them from happening," she said.