THEIR aim is to meet the spiritual needs of their clients - moving restless souls from one world to the next.But on the eve of the spookiest night of the year a newly-formed group of ghost detectives has a groaning gap in its diary for Halloween.

THEIR aim is to meet the spiritual needs of their clients - moving restless souls from one world to the next.

But on the eve of the spookiest night of the year a newly-formed group of ghost detectives has a groaning gap in its diary for Halloween.

The lack of anything paranormal to probe tomorrow night means the five-strong group will be re-assigned to more mundane duties while they wait for the next call to come in.

Val Dover, group founder, said they had been left in limbo at the last minute but were poised with a crack team of historians and mediums ready to analyse the bizarre and mysterious in properties across the borough.

The free and confidential ghost-busting service was aimed at reassuring people worried their homes were haunted, Ms Dover said, adding that in most cases ghosts, despite their poor public image, were actually “pretty reasonable people” who although occasionally awkward responded to gentle coaxing.

She said that sometimes an eerie knocking turned out to be nothing more sinister than a dodgy pipe and that when a spook was detected it was often a family member who was happy to stay on.

“A lot of times its people's relatives and if the spirit is quite happy where they are we just leave them. But sometimes the client does want the spirit to leave them and we pass it on.

Apparitions she said varied from the traditional white figure dressed in old fashioned clothes, to black misty shapes and more solid outlines.

The group as well as relying on the intuition and sensitivity of its members has amassed a wealth of technical wizardry to help find the phantoms, including stealth and infra-red cameras, digital thermometers, crystals and trigger objects like crosses and coins.

Ms Dover, 54, said that her recent retirement from Barclays Bank in Great Yarmouth after more than 35 years had enabled her to turn an interest in the paranormal - that was stirred by books and stories as a child - into a hobby.

Although Great Yarmouth Paranormal Investigations (GYPI) is a new group Ms Dover has been involved in previous incarnations and rates the Dukes Head in Hall Quay as among Yarmouth's most haunted. An investigation there revealed it was full of allsorts including a little Victorian lady, two old chaps in peaked caps, two little boys on the stairs and a particularly amiable lady called Victoria.

GYPI are actively looking for haunts and can be contacted via 07548 208664, email val.gypi@hotmail.co.uk. Or visit the website gypi.co.uk