Ghostly surge sees theme park ride moved

A new ride at one of the country's biggest theme parks has been moved after fears that it had disturbed an ancient burial ground, prompting paranormal activity.

Workers creating the water ride at Thorpe Park in Surrey for the new season said they started noticing ghostly sightings nearby, including what appeared to be a headless monk.

There were reports of objects being moved, workers feeling like someone was watching over their shoulders and sudden cold feelings being experienced.

A paranormal detection agency was called in to carry out tests and found that an ancient burial ground or settlement could have been disturbed.

Managers at the park decided to relocate the ride to another area of the park and also called in a forensic team to carry out further investigations.

The 64ft-tall water ride, Storm Surge, was originally planned for an area known as Monk's Walk, an old footpath that has linked the ruins of nearby Chertsey Abbey to Thorpe Church since AD666.

The ride's foundations would have been over 15 metres deep in an area of the park where stone coffins have previously been excavated.

Mike Vallis, divisional director of Thorpe Park, said: "It became apparent that something strange was going on when teams started clearing Storm Surge's initial site.

"Staff reports of eerie goings-on shot up and the only physical change in the park, at that time, was the beginning of ground preparation work for the new ride.

"As employees were getting freaked out, we decided to call on an expert to see whether there was anything to report but had no idea of the dramatic effects."

Jim Arnold, of South West London Paranormal, said: "We carry out these kinds of investigations quite regularly, with medium to weak results being reported on a weekly basis.

"Thorpe Park, however, was more striking as results were picked up immediately, with orbs, ghostly images in photography and ouija reaction results being strongest around the site where they were proposing to build Storm Surge.

"The results were so strong, we felt the only explanation could be that an ancient burial ground or settlement was being disturbed, prompting the extra paranormal activity."

Forensic geophysicist Peter Masters, of Cranfield University, has since been called in to analyse the site, using deep ground radar.

He said: "From the preliminary investigations, we have picked up signatures similar to that of a burial ground - possibly ancient.

"Although this could simply be an old building, with Thorpe Park's history, the investigation is definitely worth continuing."