It's Friday the 13th!

But poor Gill Munton let out an altogether shorter expletive on the day she learned the hard way that it will always be unlucky for some.

Gill's rude awakening happened only hours after she overcame any superstitious thoughts and moved into 13 Old Farm Close, Abingdon.

On the first night she suddenly heard the sound of rats scurrying across her loft.

Gill recalled: "I had freaked out a bit when I realised that it was number 13 but I wanted the house.

"It was pretty horrific at the time. The roof was just full of rats. I did feel like walking out of it.

"But having gone through the trauma, we thought we would stay where we were."

When Gill tried to have the number of her home changed she was unlucky again.

"We did try to get it changed to 12a before we moved in. But the council would not do it."

West Oxfordshire District Council adopted a policy of omitting the number 13 from any future housing schemes 23 years ago.

Public health committee members were told that the superstitious residents insisted their houses should be changed from 13 to 12a.

Hoteliers, too, positively quiver at the idea of a number 13 room. Michael North, manager of the Oxford Moat Hotel house, said: "We do not have one.

"Yes, it is for superstitious reasons.

"If it was the last one we had left to sell, quite a lot of people would not have it.

"I have never had a hotel with a 13. In one tall hotel I have been in, in London, they did not even have a 13th floor.

Michael McKeon, manager of Littlebury Hotel, Bicester, said: "We have no 13, we have a 12a instead. "It is something that we inherited."

Oxford Bus Company has run its number 13 bus service from St Aldate's to the John Radcliffe Hospital, for years.

Company park and ride manager Louisa Clarke said: "It is a very popular service so I do not think anybody worries about it."

There are some strong-minded souls who defy the lessons of the past and make Friday the 13th the high point of their year.

Oxford has its very own Friday the 13th Club, which meets tonight at The Plasterers Arms, Marston Road for dinner and drinks.

It was founded in 1993 and is used as an excuse for members to forget their troubles.

Co-founder Stuart Haigh, a Bicester accountant, said: "We just do it for a good laugh.

It is very enjoyable and we have a few drinks and tell some stories.

"It is like a poor man's Pickwick Club."

The meetings are very formal and members receive a club tie. Each member has to be proposed and seconded, so it remains quite exclusive.

Such clubs are not uncommon and have been around for decades. One of the best known is the American 13 Club, where members sit 13 to a table.

The worst accident to befall a member of the 13 Club was when a waiter dropped a soup tureen on a member's head.

In recent times Friday the 13th has been the day when computer viruses have caused mayhem.

But the myth surrounding the 13th almost certainly goes right back to pre-Christian times.

Medieval history tutor Alexander Murray, of University College, Oxford, said the concept could have originated from the Roman Empire. Romans had unlucky and lucky days - known as Nefas and Fas. When a day was Nefas, no work was done in case it offended the Gods.

Romans also saw the number 13 as a symbol of death and destruction and in mockery at Christian belief that there was always 13 in a witches' coven.

Early Christians felt 13 was unlucky because Judas Iscariot was the 13th at the Last Supper.

It led to the superstition that if 13 sit at a table, the first to rise will die prematurely.

Friday was, of course, the day Jesus died on the cross and legend has it that it was the day Eve tempted Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Friday, too, was Hangman's Day in England and America, when the convicted were publicly executed.

Folklore has it that crimes committed on Friday are more likely to be discovered and a trial beginning on Friday is more likely to end in punishment.

Clairvoyant Miss P, of Spiritual Heart, Wilkins Road, Cowley, said: "Today is lucky because that is the time when a lot of spells are cast.

"There were certain days when spells were quite potent and Friday 13 is one of them.

"If you think there will be bad luck on Friday 13, you take care."

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