'I invite ghost hunters to my haunted house'

Nick Evans said he did not really believe in ghosts before moving to the old inn

A couple who believe their house is haunted have begun inviting ghost hunters to come in to check out the apparent apparitions.

Nick Evans said 34 ghost hunters had visited his home, The Old White Horse in Hockliffe, Bedfordshire, after a visit by TV ghost hunter Barri Ghai.

Most of the building had stood since 1642 but parts dated back to about 1420, Mr Evans said.

"Yes, we have a few ghosts - but when we moved in, I wouldn't have necessarily believed in ghosts," he said.

Mr Evans, 68, and his wife Maria, 62, moved into the house, a few miles from Leighton Buzzard, in 2018 after it had been empty for four years.

The retired couple first became aware their new home could be haunted when their granddaughter seemingly made friends with the ghost of a little girl.

Mr Evans said: "We thought she was having us on. She was aged two when we moved in, but other people have picked up on the same ghost with the same name."

He said his granddaughter's new friend was called Olive.

"Olive was a scullery maid and died here of scarlet fever, aged nine," said Mr Evans.

"She's a bit cheeky - she has put handprints on the mirror quite often and we used to tell the grandkids off."

However, the handprints started appearing when the children had not been staying, he said.

The couple have filled the rooms of their home with old furniture and artefacts

For about 300 years the building was used as a coaching inn, but now the retired couple run a tearoom on the site.

Ghost hunters had detected other entities in the property, Mr Evans told the BBC.

A ghost called Michael apparently haunts a priest hole in the oldest part of the house.

And a groom, named Jack, has also been detected.

Mr Evans said once he turned the television off to go to bed and it turned back on again.

He believed one of the ghosts "wanted to watch the rest of the film".

He added that the ghosts in the house had extinguished candles, jingled keys and moved objects around.

Parts of the house date back to the 15th Century

Nick and Maria Evans said they were not afraid to live in their apparently haunted house

The couple have declined monetary offers from people wanting to remove the ghosts.

Mr Evans said they had "been offered mega bucks" for such a service, but added "we like them, we want to keep them."

They started inviting ghost hunting groups to the house after TV ghost hunter Barri Ghai highlighted it on social media.

He did not wish to say if he charged the groups to spend the night wandering the corridors.

Tours of the house and cellar are offered to interested visitors

"We've got a cellar; they love going in the cellar because it's spooky even if there's nothing down there," he said.

Asked if he or his wife were at all wary about living in their apparently haunted house, Mr Evans said no, but Mrs Evans recounted she once thought she felt something get into the bed with her.

"I think one of the ghosts maybe came for a cuddle because they were scared," she said.

Mr Evans added: "When we moved in, it felt like the friendliest house. They are very friendly ghosts - they're great."