Things that go bump in the night are being investigated at a former hotel.

Canterbury ghost hunter John Hippisley has been tasked with investigating the mysterious goings-on at Richard Jones’s flat, the former Pointers Hotel in London Road.

The former Cathedral guest house, which closed in the 1990s before reopening as apartments in 2005, appears to be spooked by a ghostly apparition in the doorway of one flat.

John, who runs the award-winning Canterbury Ghost Tours through the city centre, has his own theories about the spirit’s identity.

He said: “Richard’s described seeing a person wearing black, coarse hessian cloth robes. He also says the man appears without a head.

“As soon as he said that, it seemed an odd coincidence to me that Sir Thomas More’s head is allegedly buried within the Roper Vault in St Dunstan’s Church directly opposite.”

Former Lord Chancellor Thomas More was executed in 1535 after refusing to sign the Act of Succession and Oath of Supremacy as his attitudes towards the church clashed with those of the then monarch King Henry VIII.

After being found guilty of treason, he was sent to the Tower of London and beheaded, his last words believed to be: “The King’s good servant, but God’s first.”

John added: “Could this be the ghost of Sir Thomas More? Legend says the tragedy of his death still haunts the vicinity where his head is buried, so is this the spirit desperately searching for its location or could it be a more recent death?”

John has enlisted the services of local psychic Suzanne Artus who will be taking a tour of the house to try an open lines of communication with the spirit.

Businessman Richard, who has been living at the apartment since 2005, has endured years of paranormal activity at the hands of the spirit.

Spooky episodes have included sounds of footsteps down the cellar stairs at night, doors creaking open and his cats being noticeably distressed.

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