VIDEO - LEWISHAM: A haunted house? News Shopper investigates (From This Is Local London)

VIDEO - LEWISHAM: A haunted house? News Shopper investigates

11:16am Friday 13th March 2009 in

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When there’s something strange in the neighbourhood, who you gonna call? MATTHEW JENKIN finds out.

A QUIET terraced house in Lewisham is an unlikely setting for a haunting, but its residents swear an evil presence lurks in the bathroom.

Lea Spencer and Eliza Wager say they have noticed things go bump in the night ever since they moved into the property in Roxley Road, one year ago.

Footsteps in the corridor, knocking on the wall, and floating white blobs known as orbs have left the couple spooked but curious.

So curious they set up a paranormal research group called London Ghost Hunters to investigate haunted properties across the capital.

Open minded, but with a healthy dose of scepticism, I joined the group one chilly night to see if my video camera could entice the spirits to put on a show.

Mr Spencer, 39, says most of the activity happens in the living room and he once saw a little boy with a cat.

But the plot thickened when Ms Wager entered the room, sipping a cup of coffee, and mysteriously explained her aversion to the bathroom. I tried not to judge.

The 40-year-old said: “When I moved in here I refused to go to the bathroom. I felt like I was suffocating and I pictured there was a child being hung.

She added: “I’ve been getting whispers, banging, walking along the corridors, toilet flushing.

“They don’t bother me but I have got one evil one.

“The only one I’m concerned about is the baby.

“The other night we took photos around him and there were orbs all around him. He won't go in the bathroom, can’t stand the bathroom.”

Intrigued, I crept upstairs to the bathroom to feel the evil presence myself.

But my only scare was to find the toilet seat left up and a choice of bathroom tile so horrifying I felt like hanging myself in the shower as well.

I returned to the living room where the lights were off and the group of 20 ghost hunters’ eyes were glued to the back of the room searching for those elusive orbs.

I saw nothing, but Mr Spencer’s camera showed different apparently.

A few specks of light in the corner of the photo were apparently evidence of a ghostly presence.

A seance using a Ouija board was the next ruse to rouse the dead.

Despite the counter slipping and sliding from letter to letter, the spirit’s message remained cryptic.

All I could gather was that it was a boy called John. Could this have been the mysterious child Mr Spencer had seen with the cat?

Desperate to find an answer members of the group continued to frantically ask questions, but the answers never seemed to satisfy.

Exhausted and unconvinced we would ever get to the bottom of whatever haunted the house I decided to call it a night.

A believer myself, I’m reluctant to pass judgement on anyone’s belief or experiences, no matter how ridiculous it may sound.

Perhaps the ghost was a little camera shy or simply having a bad hair day? We may never know.

So I will let you judge for yourself whether the property really deserves to be called the haunted house in Roxley Road.