Oxford Prison was recently plagued by film fans hoping for a glimpse of Brad Pitt. But the building also has a number of unwelcome guests, according to one man with more than a passing interest in the paranormal. Andrew Ffrench reports . . . .

By day, Mike White is a computer technician for an Oxford University college. But his nocturnal activities are much more unusual.

The 41-year-old married father from Grove, near Wantage, has a very unusual hobby.

We're not afraid: Oxford Prison

Many people would call it ghost-hunting - but Mike insists it is something much more scientific.

He is a member of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena and organised an investigators' training day at Oxford Prison on Saturday with 50 willing volunteers.

The disused prison, which was bought by the county council in 1997, is reputed to haunted, making it the ideal location for the 50 spook-hunters on Saturday night.

Given the number of witnesses to strange happenings at the historic site, the temptation to investigate was overwhelming, says Mike.

"I have been interested in the paranormal for about ten years now. My wife thinks it is a strange kind of hobby but she lets me get on with it.

"We go about our work very scientifically and always make sure that we have more than one person in a room so we can corroborate our evidence.

Mike White, right, and Adam Bailey get a video ready "Oxford Prison has a very long and bloody history and a number of sightings have been recorded. The most famous case is that of Mary Blandy, who was hanged on the Mound in 1752. There have been a number of sightings of her since her death, including one in a theatre in Henley.

"Because the prison site is about to be developed we thought the time was right to conduct an investigation."

Nick Evans, the council officer in charge of hiring out the prison as a film set, said the evening's activities had the blessing of the county council and The Osborne Group, which is planning to turn the premises into a luxury hotel and leisure complex.

"We will be very interested in what the group finds," he said. "Their scientific monitoring sounds very professional."

So what exactly does looking for ghosts in an old prison entail?

Well, disappointingly perhaps, no-one wore a boiler suit or carried a vacuum cleaner on their back, but there was still a variety of equipment on display.

This included temperature and motion sensors, night-sight viewers, video and still cameras and other recording equipment.

At the prison, video cameras were trained on "trigger objects", deliberately placed where they might be moved. Electronic thermometers were also placed in a number of cells to detect sudden temperature changes.

After the ASSAP team arrived, they quickly set about establishing an overnight HQ at the far end of the hospital wing, well away from any of the potential centres of activity. Armed with cameras, notebooks and the occasional walkie-talkie and mobile phone, the various groups dispersed around the prison to begin the night's work.

The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena was set up in 1981 with the aim of using scientific investigation techniques to understand and codify a whole range of paranormal phenomena.

In practice, this generally means investigating reports of haunted houses but members have a range of interests, from UFOs to dowsing.

With a national membership of around 250, the ASSAP is ideally placed to answer calls for help from around the country - although it strenuously denies any attempt to classify it as a "ghostbusting" group.

The last widely publicised case in which the ASSAP was involved was a ghostly image that appeared on a security video at Belgrave Hall Museum in Leicestershire. This image was eventually discovered to have been caused by a leaf falling in front of a security camera.

And what of the Oxford vigil? Mike says: "No-one saw a ghost and nothing seems to have been captured on camera but there are still the hours of video coverage to go over to make sure no anomalous images were captured without any of the human observers realising it at the time.

"Despite this seemingly inauspicious result, all the participants in the event enjoyed the experience, especially as it is unlikely that such a large group will ever be able to undertake an investigation at the prison again."

**Anyone interested in the work of the ASSAP can visit its website at www.assap.org. Mike White is research officer for the ASSAP. He is always interested to hear local ghost stories and can be contacted at mike@deville.demon.co.uk.