SIX spooky sightings at Shelley Theatre ...by Mark Masters

Shelley Theatre in Boscombe has had its fair share of ghostly moments, according to staff.

A theatre spokesman said: "All the sightings have had a sense of playfulness about them. The mischief making has been here for years!"

1. Being watched. Tom Dunne, the bar manager, has found those moments when he has been sure someone else is there. “By the staircase, that leads up to Lady Shelley’s bedroom, there have been moments when I have quickly turned round and have a sense that someone is there behind me. I have also felt this in the bar and downstairs.”

2. Footsteps. Two members of the voluntary team were rounding off an evening and going through the necessary end of day checks. Rodger Allan said: “At the end of performances, we walk around the theatre to check nothing has been left behind. As I was walking by the spiral staircase on the stage, I could hear footsteps at the back of the curtain. My colleague, Kate, walked into the theatre and she could hear it too.” Two people were present when it took place, two people noticed at the same time.

3. Noise. Rodger was locking up with another volunteer: “I was by the main entrance and my colleague was in the bar area. All of a sudden, and no more than a matter of a inches from my head, there was loud, wheezing cough. I said to my colleague that she had a nasty cough, she was in a different room.”

4. Anxiety. A local painter and decorator who does a lot of work at the theatre went upstairs to check on some work but quickly returned. Dave said: "I definitely felt something in those rooms, I didn’t want to stay there for too long."

5. The Dog. Whilst Tom was in the kitchen, someone else was in the bar area. Tom explained, “This is not a sighting by me, but what some else saw. Whilst they were sitting down, a large dog that looked like an Irish wolfhound, walked from the theatre doors to the exit. I can guarantee there were no dogs in the building.”

6. Child on stairs. Theatre manager Zoe Dunne said she saw a child appear from nowhere: “I saw a girl walk down the main staircase from the medical centre and into the under-stairs cupboard. The building used to be a girls' school, perhaps a hello from the past?”