“I CANNOT wait to come home”, says Paula O’Brien, psychic medium and former York resident.

“I am looking forward to a sausage sandwich at Fenwick’s and a cream tea at Bettys. My mum is no longer with us, so I am doing it for her,” says the woman called the People’s Angel by the Daily Mail.

Paula, who is 45 and was born in Hessle, will be visiting York on January 20 as well as Hull, where she grew up, on March 6.

During her childhood, Paula’s family owned Ye Olde Poachers Inne, a pub in Breighton, for five years. “We often came to York as my mum loved it; it became my favourite place,” says Paula. She moved to York when she was 28, and now the mother of four lives in Dunfermline, Scotland, with her husband.

Paula discovered she had “something special” when she was two. Not long after that, she says she began communicating with spirits.

“We lived in a huge house, and I used to get ‘nightly visitors’,” she says. “My parents thought they were made-up friends, so to speak, but it became very apparent that they were something more than that.

“When I was a child, my parents had four houses exorcised by the local priest. It would be fair to say our houses where frequently visited. I thought it very normal to talk to ‘dead’ children and found it hard to separate the living from ghosts.”

Paula’s work as a medium has seen her called on to help the police. Two years ago, she received an email from a family about a missing person.

“Their relative just appeared in my bedroom. It was obvious that he was not missing but had died,” she says. “He insisted he could take me to the body, I had to be very tactful on the reply email and said I would drive to where he was last seen. I did that straight away.”

Paula did so and then phoned the police, who found the body within 20 minutes. The man had taken his own life, but the police were required to interview Paula in order to rule her out as a suspect.

“I have worked on several murder investigations and lots of other missing persons, and they take it out of you as the end is always sad. But allowing the family to have some peace, knowing that their loved one is back home, that is my driving force.”

Paula is looking forward to her tour dates in Yorkshire.

“I miss the fish and chips”, she says. “And the Yorkshire people. There is nothing like the Yorkshire humour! My brother is buried in Hull, so I do miss him. I love Scarborough and the seaside; we try to get back about three times a year, if we can, just to breath in the Yorkshire air. Does that sound silly?”

Paula will be appearing in York for A Night Of Mediumship at the Marriott Hotel in Tadcaster Road, a comparatively small venue compared to the 700-seat shows she has played before.

“I like to do both, but the intimate ones are amazing because I can really connect with the audience,” she says. “Even for those who do not get messages, it feels like one huge family sharing something really special.”

Paula has no concerns about a lack of colourful personalities revealing themselves. “I guess I am looking forward to seeing what characters come through; there is usually one who likes to steal the show. Knowing how funny we can be, I am sure York will not let us down.”

• Tickets for A Night Of Mediumship: Paula O’Brien at the York Marriott Hotel on January 20 at 7.30pm are on sale at £15 at ents24.com/york-events/marriott-hotel/paula-obrien/

Her Hull show on March 6 will be at the Mercure Royal Hotel; same online booking address.