As Halloween arrives, we joined ghost hunter Paul Cowmeadow from Gloucester Paranormal Investigation Services to discuss his experiences boldly facing the supernatural.

The team was set up four years ago by Paul Cowmeadow and Ed Francis.

Paul said: "I’ve always been into the paranormal, since childhood. I had a few experiences growing up, and I've studied the Occult for 20 years."

Paul and Ed met 20 year ago, when they used to work together, and have been friends ever since.

Their first foray into exploring the paranormal together was a visit to St Catherine's Church graveyard in Matson, Gloucester back in July 2016.

Paul said he grew up knowing the famous ghost story of the Grey Lady attached to the site.

"We went to see if could see if we could find anything and we managed to catch a voice and picture of the apparition of the Grey Lady that's said to haunt that area.

Amazed at what they managed to capture with such basic equipment, they decided to form Gloucester Paranormal Investigation Services, invest in more equipment and check out some of Gloucestershire's most historic and haunted locations.

Paul and Ed have been investigating Gloucester Prison for the past four years, where they have taken hundreds of hours of footage, the highlights of which can be seen on their website.

Here is some footage from the New Inn in Gloucester:

Paul said one of his most memorable investigations took place at a house in Gloucester in 2018.

"The police had evacuated the house, even though there was nothing in the house, but something spooked them so badly.

"We went in and found things running around, shadows with eyes.

"Ed got possessed and he turned on me a bit and his eyes went black.

"That happens quite a lot.

"When it happens, it really drains you. You feel quite ill and not yourself.

"But you just talk to the spirits and say 'leave me now'. Usually they respect your wishes and leave.

"It scares most people and there's times when it's made me jump.

"But we never run away. We always go towards it, we've learnt to embrace fear."

Paul and Ed hold occasional public events and presentations of their evidence and also hold talks on the paranormal, where the public can get a more in depth perspective of the kind of research they do and how they do it.

"We've had a fantastic response from the public. A lot of people are into the paranormal, but are scared to delve into it themselves. Me and Ed cross a line they wouldn’t.

"And of course there's sceptics who laugh at us and make silly comments now and again. It's a mixed bag.

"We have found that some people who say they don’t believe have had quite a few experiences themselves.

"One woman came up to us and told us that she didn’t believe. Then she told us about a ghost that had saved her life when seven years old, and then told us another story about a ghost in a graveyard. Then she said 'it’s all a load of rubbish isn’t it?' and walked off."

Paul said he does like the film Ghost Busters, but it's nothing like the real thing.

"We're always getting called ghost busters, but we don’t bust ghosts. It's a funny film, but it's nothing like the real thing."

To find out more about Gloucester Paranormal Investigation Services see: https://gpisenquiries.wixsite.com/gpis