He is a Yorkshire hairdresser with a young family. His biography is launched in York next week.

Oh, and he can talk to the dead. CHRIS TITLEY reports.

STEPHEN Holbrook learned he was a medium from his grandfather. One night, when he was nine, Stephen woke up to find his granddad sitting on the end of his bed. It was four in the morning.

The visit came as a double surprise, as the older man was supposed to be in hospital. "When I asked him what he was doing here in the middle of the night, he gave me the most enormous smile and told me that he'd just popped in to say goodbye, and that I should close my eyes and go back to sleep," Stephen recalled.

"So I closed my eyes, but then opened them straight away, and granddad wasn't there any more. Now this made me upset, and I started to cry, although I wasn't quite sure why I was crying."

The next day he learned that his grandfather had died at 3.55am. It was a sudden and shocking introduction to a new life; Stephen has been talking to residents of the spirit world ever since.

The incident is recounted in Stephen's biography, The Light In The Darkness. Written by York psychic James Christie, it is a well-timed chronicle of the growing star of the clairvoyant circuit, the Wakefield man who has been described as "Britain's most accurate medium".

No medium has achieved national fame since the death of Doris Stokes. But Stephen's popularity is growing. His visits to York and elsewhere in his native Yorkshire are regularly sold out. He is in such demand that he looks set to give up his job as a hairdresser to concentrate full time on being what he describes as "a telephone exchange between this world and the next".

Through his company James Christie Productions, James is working to boost his profile further afield. "Stephen was looking for somebody to represent him out of the areas where he was already well known," he explained.

"Stephen has a tremendous reputation and a phenomenal following in Yorkshire. And he has a very strong following in the West Country.

"My initial brief was to do all I could to heighten his national profile."

He is happy to admit that the biography began as a marketing tool. But soon "it acquired a life and nature of its own".

It is safe to say that the biographer is impressed by his subject. "I have worked in the field of clairvoyance and mediumship all of my life," James said. "I don't want to tell you how old I am, but I am old.

"I saw Stephen for the first time last year and was stunned by his accuracy of evidence.

"He gave specific details, the nitty-gritty, the minutiae - more than anybody I had seen over the last 20 years. That has got to prove to my way of thinking that there's life after death."

During that demonstration, at the King's Hall in Ilkley, Stephen told one member of the audience that he had a message from his mother. The man was stunned when the clairvoyant went on to tell him that his mother had had diabetes and was in a coma before her death; that he had been holding her hand when she died; that her grandsons were called Mark and Andrew; that they were going into business together and that he had loaned them £4,000. Every detail was apparently correct.

Examples of similar, eerily-accurate, messages abound in the book.

James said he was not impressed by either Doris Stokes or Doris Collins. But Stephen reminded him of a famous clairvoyant from a previous age, the Great Zareada, who was famed for his precision.

The biography was written quickly and is published by James' own imprint, Mage. It is not a polished work, but you can forgive the occasional misspelling as Stephen's story is fascinating, for believer and sceptic alike.

One chapter tells how the late performer Marti Caine "visited" Stephen in his car.

The medium also briefly discusses his friendship with Jane McDonald, the singer, also from Wakefield, who found fame after appearing on docusoap The Cruise. Stephen and Jane have been long-time friends. When she was at a low ebb and thought her search for fame was a waste of time, she asked him what he could see in the future for her. James said Stephen foresaw a television programme set on a ship, and even predicted her marriage.

Jane is devoting part of her biography to Stephen. They are due to make appearances on GMTV and The Gloria Hunniford Show together to promote her book in the autumn.

In the meantime, Stephen Holbrook devotees can next see him in York at 7.30pm on Sunday, September 3, at the Moat House Hotel.

He will present his usual demonstration of clairvoyance and will then take questions from the floor. Tickets cost £6.50 and can be booked in advance by phoning (01904) 744500 or, subject to availability, on the door.

The biography can be purchased on the night at the special price of £5. Otherwise it costs £6.99 from Waterstone's and other bookshops.

PICTURE: Stephen Holbrook is a Wakefield hairdresser who is now the rising star of the clairvoyant circuit