Suspected ghost caught on camera at Britain's fourth-oldest pub

BOLTON, England, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Workers at a British pub dating back to 1251 said they captured CCTV footage of a shadowy figure they suspect of being paranormal in nature.

Tony Dooley, manager of Ye Olde Man and Scythe in Bolton, England, said he was checking the cameras Friday morning at the country's fourth-oldest pub when he discovered they had stopped working at 6:18 a.m. and there was broken glass on the floor, the Manchester Evening News reported Monday.

"I came down and saw a glass smashed on the floor so I was instantly suspicious and went to check the CCTV and found it has stopped working," he said.

"We checked the footage and it revealed this figure," Dooley said. "To be honest I was a bit concerned -- I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to ghosts but you become more of a believer when you see things like that."

The most famous of the ghosts rumored to haunt the pub is the Seventh Earl of Derby, James Stanley, a descendant of the inn's original owners who was beheaded in 1651.

"There have always been rumors it is haunted and we've had psychic readings done here in the past," Dooley said. "Occasionally you hear things and wonder if it's just the building settling down or whether it's something else. It's the fourth-oldest pub in Great Britain so it's had its fair share of deaths and whatnot."