Hunt for Somerset ghost whisperers

Nick is returning to Jamaica Inn to raise money for Children in Need

A paranormal group in Somerset is looking for two ghost whisperers to join their team.

Cornwall And Somerset Paranormal Entity Research United Kingdom - The Friendly Ghost Group, (CASPER UK) is based in Frome.

The group was set up by Nick Thurston who became interested in the paranormal after a spooky experience at a guesthouse six years ago.

His ultimate aim is to prove beyond reasonable doubt that ghosts exist.

The group is a not-for-profit group which investigates paranormal activity.

'Scratched on the neck'

Nick has worked on a part-time basis as a paranormal investigator and was a founding member of Grave Investigations before he set up CASPER UK in March 2009.

He was a self-professed 'huge sceptic' when it came to ghosts but his beliefs were challenged after staying at a guesthouse in the New Forest in 2003.

"We were the only paying guests there. We were left alone by the landlords, they'd gone for a private party. It all started off a little odd where the appliances in the room weren't working, we couldn't get the lights to turn on and couldn't get the toilet to flush."

Take a closer look at this spooky photo taken by Nick Thurston In detail

Initially Nick and his ex-partner thought they were given a dodgy room and called the landlords.

They came back from the party to the guesthouse whereupon everything started working normally.

"They went away and we were left alone again. There were these old sorts of dolls outside the room - they were all facing in one direction and we went out of the room and one of them had moved round (when we came back out again).

"For whatever reason I thought in my head, maybe this property is haunted, and with that my fiancé got scratched on the neck and an argument ensued as she thought it was me."

However, the night wasn't over for the pair.

"We went outside (for a cigarette) and there were these footsteps coming down the gravel drive and we couldn't get in quick enough. She burnt her hand and we sort of locked ourselves in the room."

More unexplained events took place that evening, like rattling door latches.

The following morning they discovered that the guesthouse did indeed have 'resident guests who didn't pay' and a medium would come on regular basis to communicate with the spirits there.

Orbs

Since then Nick's work has taken him to Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and all over England where he's experienced unexplained earth tremors and objects moving of their own accord.

The investigators also use a wide range of equipment, like laser thermometers, beam breakers, anemometers, mp3 recorders, pendulums and dowsing rods depending on the case they're working on.

"Sometimes they (the ghosts) don't have enough energy to manifest themselves. You've probably heard of orbs which often are dust. When you can see these lights with the naked eye - or as mists - they're usually the first stages of manifestation.

"They pull from natural energies or things like camcorders and it is commonplace that a lot of my equipment will go dead even though they've been fully charged for several hours."

His promise is to stand firm in the face of all manner of spooky goings on.

"It will take a lot to unnerve me. I've locked myself in cellars, armed with just my night-vision camera and my EMF detector," said Nick.

"It sounds a little bit odd, but I try to test myself to see how far I will go, before I do an Yvette Fielding and just run. One of our mottos is that we never run from any paranormal activity, instead we move towards it."

Nick's next project is a night with Pudsey at Jamaica Inn, in Cornwall, to raise money for Children in Need.