A PENDLE author is looking for tales of ghostly experiences and things that go bump in the night for her latest project.

Jacqueline Davitt, 56, from Barrowford, is working on a book about witches, ghosts and boggarts in Burnley, Pendle and the Ribble Valley. As well as the traditional tales of the Pendle witches and ghosts at Wycoller and Samlesbury Hall, Jacqueline wants to hear lesser known stories, including personal experiences of the supernatural and family legends.

Jacqueline said: "People expect the main ones to be covered like Wycoller, Samlesbury Hall and the witches. I want to put in the less documented, the lesser known stories of the area.

"I'd also like to hear the more recent ones. Apparently there are people who have experienced ghosts in modern dress and I want to hear any personal stories as long as they can be corroborated.

"If anybody tells me a story, even if it's not corroborated, I will look into it."

The former psychiatric nurse took up writing following early retirement and was given a contract to write the book by Tempus Publishing after a friend completed a similar project.

Jacqueline said: "I'd always been interested in the folklore of the area.

"I've never actually seen a ghost but in the course of my research I have spoken to a lot of sane and sensible people who told me their experiences and I have no reason to doubt them.

"I've heard about a lot of stories by word of mouth and I've spent an awful lot of time in various libraries looking at microfiche of newspapers and websites. I've been round various pubs which have ghosts and things.

"I'm not a ghost hunter. I'm collecting stories about ghosts, boggarts and witches and reporting them in a factual and interesting way."

Anyone with a ghost story to tell should contact Jacqueline Davitt at jakki@davitt234445.freeserve.co.uk