A research scientist has been interviewing people who claim to have felt a ghostly presence at Muncaster Castle in west Cumbria.

The castle, at Ravenglass, has been home to the Pennington family for 800 years.

It is said to be haunted by ghosts, including the legendary Tom Fool, with the Tapestry Room a favourtie with the phantom.

Doctor Jason Braithwaite, a neuro-psychologist, has been investigating reports of ghosts at the castle for 10 years.

We realised that people had been having experiences spanning many years

Dr Jason Braithwaite

There has been a recent increase in reported experiences at the castle, and staff prefer to leave the castle before dusk.

Dr Braithwaite said: "I wanted to get hold of people that had actually seen or heard or felt things and look them in the eyes, and ask them questions.

"We used very strict interview techniques, and we collected testimonies and then we realised people were having very similar experiences.

"That was quite odd - and we realised that people had been having experiences spanning many years."

Carpenter killed

Many of the ghostly happenings are attributed to Tom Fool, who was the jester of Muncaster in the 16th century.

Tom Fool is supposed to have murdered a local carpenter by chopping his head off.

Legend has it that the carpenter had fallen in love with Helwise, the daughter of Sir Ferdinand Pennington.

The match was not thought to be a suitable one and Sir Ferdinand is said to have paid Tom to kill the carpenter.