'Ghost' spotted at Selby Town Hall (From York Press)

'Ghost' spotted at Selby Town Hall

8:18am Wednesday 5th May 2010 in News By Richard Harris

A MYSTERIOUS man dressed in old-fashioned clothes has reportedly been seen stalking the rooms of Selby Town Hall – and for once it is not the mayor.

The ghostly figure was seen by a member of the town council’s staff who was locking up the town hall, a former Methodist chapel, last Tuesday afternoon.

The employee did not wish to be identified, but Selby mayor, Coun Steve Shaw-Wright, told the story on her behalf.

He said: “She heard a noise in the lobby, which is not unusual as people stand in the lobby waiting for lifts home.

“When the staff member went through to the lobby it was empty, though she thought nothing of this assuming the people had left.

“She checked the toilets for stragglers and finding them empty she locked them up. But on returning to the main hall she saw a man in the balcony of the arts centre and asked him what he was doing up there. He said nothing, but moved across the balcony to the staircase – the only exit.

“The staff member went to unlock the downstairs door so he could get out, but no one came down the stairs. She went up and no one was there.”

Coun Shaw-Wright said the man was described as having dark hair and wearing a long, velvet jacket.

He said the building dated from 1862 when it was a Methodist chapel with a house also on site for the minister. Since then it has had various uses, including being a health clinic and a tyre depot.

He said: “When we first bought the building many moons ago there was a gentleman who was a rough sleeper who sadly died in a fire, but the figure looked more Edwardian or Victorian according to the member of staff.”

Following the ghostly experience, other staff members said they had heard footsteps on the first floor when nobody was up there and had noticed electrical equipment turning itself on and off.

Coun Shaw-Wright said: “The council will be looking into this, asking for information from past users of the building to see if anything else similar had happened. We will also be looking into the past residents of the former chapel.”