Moment ‘friendly ghost in haunted pub’ teases landlady and patrons by ‘throwing glasses and picture frame to the floor’

The work of a ‘friendly ghost’ at one haunted pub has been captured in viral CCTV footage. 

The ghost, which workers have affectionately named Paul to ‘make them feel better,’ has been spooking staff at The Fox & Hounds pub in Eckington, Derbyshire, for years. 

In a number of explainable moments which staff believe can only be the work of a ghoul, pictures have been ‘pulled’ off the wall and glasses have mysteriously fallen from their racks. 

The ghost has even been heard banging on walls, throwing beer mats and turning on hand dryers – despite the owners of the boozer deliberately turning them off. 

A compilation of the spooky occurrences was shared to TikTok by the pub, gaining more than 250,000 views and leaving scratching their heads.

Staff manager at the haunted Fox & Hounds however, Sian Smith, 28, insists that Paul’s work does not ‘scare’ her and her colleagues.

‘We’ve called him Paul because it makes us feel better if he has a name,’ she said. 

Punters at the Derbyshire boozer have recalled being spooked by ghosts for years 

Landlady Fay Marshall (left) and Staff manager Sian Smith (right) insist they are not scared of Paul

‘There’s all sorts of stuff that happens but we’re used to it so it doesn’t scare any of us. It’s becoming more of a joke really.

‘One of the glasses falling off was at 8.15am so there was nobody in the pub and the lady was on the school run. 

‘The other was in the afternoon because there were customers in but there were no staff near it. The glass just went flying.’

Sian recalled one week where Paul had been noticeably well-behaved, telling a colleague: ‘Paul’s been quiet.’

But disconcertingly, the next morning he returned. 

‘On the Friday night [January 17], myself and the landlord said: “Oh, we’ve not had any ghostly goings on for a bit.”

‘The next morning the picture frame went flying, as if to say: “Don’t worry, I’m still here.”

‘We had customers in and they were quite reactive to it because they weren’t used to it. It made them jump.

‘We think he’s a man because he’s got a very close relationship with the hand dryer in the men’s toilets.

‘It doesn’t matter what time of day it is or if there’s nobody in the toilets, the hand dryers will just go and go and go.

‘We took the fuses out because we thought it was an electrical fault but they still go off constantly.

‘He’s got a thing for throwing beer mats down the cellar stairs and around the pub too so we often come in and there’s beer mats everywhere.

‘Our cleaner comes in early and she says she constantly feels like there’s someone watching her or she’ll turn round and see a person but there’s no one there.’

In a number of unexplainable moments, pictures have been pulled off walls and glasses fallen off their racks

Some people cast doubt upon the presence of a ghost in the pub, arguing fallen items can be explained by vibrations from the nearby road

 Viewers of the viral video took to the comments section to give their take – with some former workers at the pub telling their own ghost stories. 

‘I used to work here before COVID,’ wrote one. 

‘I’d always hear running upstairs and in the cellar even when nobody was in either of them.’

While another of the pub’s punters commented: ‘It’s funny how last week me and my dad were talking about the spirit here. 

‘My dad witnessed a few drinks being thrown over the bar when he went in for his regular pint years ago.’

As with any ghost tale, non-believers too took the comments to question the presence of the ghost.  

‘Those glasses were overstacked. It used to happen in my pub,’ one wrote. 

‘Staff would walk back and forth, creating small vibrations and in the end a glass would fall.’

Another put the falling objects down to vibrations caused by traffic outside, writing: ‘Rather than it being make-believe, there may be science behind this.

‘Vibration in the building from outside is more logical than thinking ghosts exist, come on.’

One more bluntly commented: ”Imagine being a fully grown adult and thinking ghosts are real because of gravity.’

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