The former Gazette & Herald offices in Devizes Market Place are replete with ghostly presences, according to a team of investigators who carried out an overnight vigil in the building.

Photographer and website designer Chris Franklin and his ten-strong Ghomats team of paranormal investigators spent the night of February 8 in various locations in the three-storey building and were rewarded with numerous other-worldly contacts.

Gazette photographer Diane Vose accompanied the different groups as they carried out their research. She said: “I followed the first team upstairs to the top room, which was very cold. The atmosphere in the room was chilling and was mentioned many times by the team.

“Recording equipment was used. We heard voices coming from the transmitter and we heard the name Edward over the radio waves. Two of the lady mediums felt drawn to the corner of the room. They spoke of Charles, who appeared as an Edwardian gentleman with a moustache.

“The surnames Bartlett and Baker came through. While this was going on, orbs were spotted by the night vision cameras and also a spooky face was seen later reflected in the window.

“There was also mention of a nanny called Daphne who looked after a child called April.”

Mr Franklin said the top room provided the only evidence in the building of potentially unfriendly spirits. He said: “There was quite a lot of negative energy about the place and more than one of our investigators reported feeling quite sick.

“Different rooms created different presences. The alleyway between the Gazette office and Age UK was very interesting. We all picked up the sounds of children playing.”

The mediums reported impressions of a young errand boy, Thomas, who would run up and down the yard between the now-derelict printers building and the office with information. He wore a flat cap and had a whistle round his neck.

In the ground floor offices, only recently vacated by reporters and photographers, the mediums were greeted by a man in a green suit who welcomed them to the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald.

Ms Vose said: “One of the most interesting ghosts was James, who was a journalist who appeared to have been paid not to publish a story which would have proved a scandal surrounding the railway.

“Overall, it was a very interesting evening but I’m afraid there were no sightings of George Simpson (the Gazette’s founder) senior or junior.”