Can you spot the ghost?

BE afraid, be very afraid because look closely at this photo and you might spot a ghost! Angela Buttifant got the fright of her life when the mysterious apparition appeared on the photograph taken at Great Yarmouth's historic Tolhouse.

What appears to be a ghostly form floating near the lantern in the dungeons of the old gaol was revealed to an amazed Angela when she put the photo on her Facebook website.

And with millions of us signed up to social networking sites it seems that this particular spirit wanted to put in an appearance too.

Mum of three Angela had not sensed anything spooky during the visit to the Tolhouse at the museums night event on Saturday so had a big shock when the spectre was captured on camera.

She said: “My nephew Adam first saw the ghost and when he told me I found it hard to believe, but then I saw it I just went wow. It was a little scary and almost made me jump.

“It appears to be parts of a body hanging in the air, it is not fully formed but you can see a nose, eyes, part of a leg and what looks like a fisherman's hat.

“I'm not sure if it is a man or a woman some people have not been able to spot it, perhaps it helps to believe in ghosts. There really is no explanation.

“There have been lots of comments from my friends on Facebook about the photo - it's not often you spot a ghost on a social networking site.”

Angela, 38, who lives in Yarmouth with husband Paul and children, Chloe, Ella and Zak is no stranger to the spirit world.

Her late father Stuart was a spiritual healer and the family's previous home in York Road was haunted.

And during a previous visit to the Tolhouse, Angela's camera was affected by strange orbs of white light.

She added: “Things would get moved mysteriously around our old house and we would hear footsteps on the floorboards. I have always been fascinated in ghosts, perhaps I attract them.”

The Tolhouse would be one of the most likely places to find a ghost according to the museum's visitor services assistant Les Cole.

He said: “The ghost of a lady with her hair in a bun has been seen walking between the Tolhouse and the Library basement.

“I haven't seen her, but some people have suggested it could be the Victorian prison visitor Sarah Martin.

“The building was a gaol between 1262 and 1878 and prisoners were kept in horrendous conditions, so there must have been some tortured souls there.

“The notorious Matthew Hopkins witch trials also took place at here in 1645 - 11 women were tried and six found guilty.

“There was no light or windows in the dungeons and food would have been dropped down the ventilation holes.”

A group on a ghost night at the Tolhouse in April also saw a ghostly figure while down in the hold - the original medieval dungeon which is not normally open to the public.