Thousands of shoppers walk through St Margaret's Street every day, but many who venture along the historic thoroughfare are oblivious to the apparent paranormal activity surrounding them.

Dubbed the hub of Canterbury’s ghostly heritage, the street has been the subject of many supernatural rumours, including the tale of an upright female skeleton buried within a chimney column.

But at the forefront of St Margaret’s mystical stories lies clothing store Superdry.

Shop staff say they are aware of the building’s haunted past and its links with the supernatural – a feeling which Robin Chappell, who managed the Fopp music shop when it occupied the premises, knows only too well.

Back in 2007, he was forced to sleep over at the store after missing the last train home following a night out – and it was on that cold December night he says he encountered a hunched-over phantom hiding among the shop’s CD racks.

Now, author Thom Burgess has published a book detailing his friend’s close encounter with the St Margaret’s ghost.

He said: “Robin was upstairs watching American football on a laptop. The signal was dropping in and out and it also went extremely cold.

“With all the windows shut, and a heater very close to him, he began to feel slightly unnerved.

“He was shivering in the dark on the second floor when he caught a glimpse in the corner of his eye of a dark shape moving across the floor.

“He then felt certain that someone was standing directly behind him.”

Robin’s 2007 fright is one of a number experienced by staff and shoppers at 24 St Margaret’s Street.

After Fopp closed, clothing store Cult moved into the premises a few years later.

Mr Burgess asked the new shop manager if he was aware of any supernatural experiences at the store.

He was told: “Lots of people have heard footsteps in the corridor, seen things out the corner of their eye or felt cold breezes.

"The staff that have been here for a while are pretty used to it.

“Apparently one female ghost tends to walk the same route quiet frequently.

"A girl was working in the stock room and there was a ghost looking at her through the shelving.

"The ghost was sort of bent over and appeared to be peeking through the shelves.

“A man has also been seen in the basement standing behind people and is often mistaken for another member of staff.”