Haunts for the spirited

If you don't like surprises or hearing your own heart thumping in the darkness, then don't plan a holiday in Britain without checking out which hotels are ghost-free.

So long, deep and dark is the history of some accommodation in England, Scotland and Wales, there is actually a website listing all the haunted pubs and hotels.

One of the most haunted is the ancient Mermaid Inn at Rye in East Sussex.

Guests there have seen a vision of men fighting - there's even the detail of one smuggler murdering another and hiding his body in a secret compartment in the Elizabethan Room.

Phantom duellists have also been seen in action, and the quieter, more spooky apparition of a woman, also killed by smugglers.

Mysterious Britain and click on hauntings, then haunted pubs.