IT IS hailed as Europe’s most-haunted city, and now tourists in York are to get another reason to learn about the city’s spooky side.

The Great York Ghost Search launches this month for Halloween, and will give families a free walking trail around York, to hunt 26 individually-designed custom made ghost lamps hidden in shop windows across the city.

Students and tutors at York College have designed 16 of the lamps, while the other 10 have been created by local designers and artists.

Sally Greenaway, head of Visit York, a part of Make It York, said: “York has long been known for its ghoulish past and as Europe’s most-haunted city, we wanted to do something really different to mark our special spooky status. It will be a fun way for residents and visitors to explore the city and delve into the depths of York’s eerie but fascinating history.”

Students at the ceramics department at the college are also hand making 500 bespoke mini ghosts for the Great York Ghost Search. Each one will be unique and there will be a few extra special ones, with Ghost Search maps available from the Visit York Information Centre in Museum Street from Monday, October 9, with indications of where to look for the lamps.

Ghost hunters can write down the name of each ghost as they find them on the streets around York Minster, along Stonegate, Goodramgate, Blake Street, Colliergate, High and Low Petergate, Grape Lane and Shambles, and around old haunted inns and spooky snickleways.

Anyone who spots and correctly names all 26 illuminated ghost lamps can be entered into a prize draw to win a family trip to Kidzania in London with rail travel and a two night stay, courtesy of Acomb Travel.

On top of this, 300 of the miniature handmade ceramic ghosts will be hidden in secret locations around the city, and anyone who finds them will be able to keep them. From about 4pm on each day of the search, fifty new mini ceramic ghosts will be hidden in nooks and crannies along the special mini ghost search route while 200 limited edition ghosts will be on sale in the Visitor Centre, with proceeds going to charity.

The search is being co-ordinated by Angus McArthur, Owner of Snowhome, Gillygate with Make It York and York College.

He said: “We hope that The Great York Ghost Search will provide some fun and excitement for families of York and everyone visiting over the half term holiday. We wanted to create something that used this hauntingly atmospheric old city as a backdrop for a hands on search and would fire up the imagination. There’s something thrilling about following a trail with the prospect of finding something that you actually get to keep.”

The ghost search runs from October 26 to 31, but maps are available to download from visityork.org or from the Visit York centre from next week.