THINGS have been known to go bump in the night in that august drinking establishment, the Spread Eagle in Walmgate, York.

We do know the beer at the Spread is legendary, but now, it seems, the fame of its spirits is Spreading far and wide.

The pub has long been the haunt of a variety of characters living or dead, and from that fair city of Leeds has come a missive from the ghosthunters. Members of Leeds Paranormal Research Fellowship want a lock-in.

They have written to landlord Lenny Carrick asking if they can spend the night to carry out an investigation into its paranormal activities.

So that's what they call heavy drinking, is it?

Seriously, though, this group spends its time conducting investigations into ghosts and haunted locations around the UK. And York has been voted the most haunted city in Europe.

They carry masses of hi-tech equipment such as CCTV cameras, infra-red night vision cameras, thermal scanners, electro-magnetic field meters, sound recorders and remote thermometer stations, and they measure strange changes in negative ion fields, humidity, and temperature.

In return for the Spread's hospitality, the ghastly group have kindly offered to share their findings with the management and even put the place on the map of most-haunted.

Landlord Lenny said: "We'd be delighted to put them up for the night. I'd heard we had a ghost but never seen anything. It would be good to know who I'm living with."

Talking about cameras, a gang of over-exuberant gentlemen of the travelling fraternity overdid it on the Spread's hospitality at the weekend and after causing a fair amount of trouble they were ejected with the warning that next time, CCTV would be watching. One chap turned back and quipped: "CCTV doesn't worry me. I can't read."

DELICIOUS staff and friendly food are the proud boast of the historic coaching house that is the King's Head Hotel in Kirkbymoorside.

Waitresses that look good enough to eat? Barmen that you can put the bite on for a few pints?

After tucking into roast leg of laundry maid, you wouldn't have much of an appetite for the 'friendly' food but then the only friendly food The Diary can think of is Pal and Chum.

This sign offering a bizarre twist of hospitality is not a mistake, it's a joke by the management. It's proving quite a head turner, with passing tourists braking to a halt to photograph the wording.

"We've only been here a week and we are continuing the joviality of the place," says proprietor Valerie Dobson. "We have a brilliant staff and our chef creates some fantastic food. Let's hope the sign pulls them in to sample what we have to offer." Marinated maitre d', anyone?

AN Evening Press reporter was literally red-faced after he parked in Bootham Row car park and walked down to the City Screen Cinema.

It was only as he approached the picture-house in Coney Street that he realised he hadn't paid his evening parking charge.

After a quick sprint back to Bootham Row, he was relieved to find his windscreen was free of the dreaded parking penalty notice. Our man was still slightly embarrassed at forgetting about the need to pay to park on an evening... not least as the hapless hack was none other than Chief Reporter Mike Laycock, organiser of the paper's Stop the Highway Robbery campaign, who has written about evening parking charges just about every day for the past two months...

Updated: 09:55 Thursday, August 26, 2004