You’ve broken the Ghoul of Six! Team of ghost-hunters hit with fines after breaking lockdown rules

A group of ghost-hunters weren’t following the spirit of the law when police caught them breaching Covid rules to explore a haunted house.

Officers from the Cheshire Police Rural Crime Team swooped after seeing vehicles parked outside a precariously derelict building near Chester on Saturday night.

Inside they found three different groups of people who claimed they had travelled to the city for a ‘paranormal activity event’. 

Officers from the Cheshire Police Rural Crime Team swooped after seeing vehicles parked outside a precariously derelict building near Chester on Saturday night. A stock image is used above [File photo]

One group had driven from West Yorkshire, while another – made up of different households – claimed to be ‘paranormal investigators’ from Derbyshire. 

A third group, again from different households in Cheshire, told the officer they were ‘urban explorers’.

All 12 men and women were issued with fixed penalty notices and reported to the landowner for trespassing, officers revealed on Facebook yesterday. 

Police Constable Ashley Tether wrote on Facebook yesterday: ‘Towards the end of my shift yesterday evening I noticed numerous vehicles parked outside a derelict building in a rural location near Chester.

One group had driven from West Yorkshire, while another – made up of different households – claimed to be ‘paranormal investigators’ from Derbyshire. A stock image is used above [File photo]

‘There were no permissions granted for anyone to be in the building which was in a poor state of repair.

‘As a result, it was an incredibly dangerous place to be, with parts of the building subject to collapse.

‘On checking the building it quickly became clear that a number of people were inside, with others outside. Three groups were eventually located.

‘In total there were 12 people found in the building forming three separate groups.

‘Covid-19 regulations are still in place! None of the above persons were exempt from these regulations.

‘All have been issued with Covid fines and reported to the landowner for consideration of civil action, for trespass offences.’

Pc Tether said the incident ‘put myself and my colleagues at risk of injury’ because they had to locate the 12 involved inside the decrepit property.

Replying to the post, one Cheshire resident Graham Hardy joked: ‘So basically three groups of crackpots! Still, each to their own.’