Ghosts, ghouls and phantoms are something most people would run shrieking from. But Thornton Heath resident Jack Brier and his four ghost-hunting friends frequently set off in search of evidence of life after death.

Equipped with digital cameras, digital thermometers, motion sensors and an electromagnetic field meter, Jack and his team have given up on other more traditional hobbies in favour of the thrill of the supernatural.

"I think more and more people are interested in paranormal activity now with programmes like the X-Files," says Jack.

Perhaps the scariest of the team's experiences was when they camped out at Reculver Towers, a Roman fort in Kent, where the skeletons of infants have been found buried in the foundations.

The 27-year-old says: "We've been investigating the paranormal for a couple of years.

"It was about three years ago that I went to Reculver Towers. We'd set up a tape recorder to gather some electronic voice phenomena (EVP), where you play back a tape and you can hear someone's voice who wasn't there.

"When we played back the tape we heard the voice of a woman saying, Don't strangle me' and later we picked up a child's voice saying Why does it fit?' and another said Chris'. It was quite late so we went to sleep.

"But the following evening we set up the tape recorder again and went away, but we were still close enough to hear what was around.

"After the recording finished we listened to it and we heard a woman's voice saying no' then a woman's terrified voice screaming No, please, no'.

"With that, the nerves got the better of us, and we got out of there fast."

The team was also able to film making contact with a ghost called Mary at the Station Hotel in Dudley.

"The Station Hotel is built quite close to Dudley Castle's ruins," says Jack. "We were told there was a ghost called George haunting table seven. We sat down and asked George if he wanted to make contact and a napkin started rocking. We started asking yes and no questions, and we discovered by watching the napkin rock and asking questions the ghost was actually a woman called Mary who left her physical body about 1,000 years ago."

Jack and the team have also investigated spooky goings on at the Sandrock Pub, in Shirley, where staff had been seeing spirits of the supernatural kind.

"We found we got orbs lights seen on a camera but not with the naked eye believed to be the manifestation of a spirit on the digital camera.

"We also got an EVP of a voice clearly saying good boy' as if praising their dog."

For more spooky tales check out the ghost hunters website: ukpi1.tripod.com/ ukparanormalinvestigations.