Expensive fines aren’t the only thing to be wary of this Halloween… in these haunted UK car parks!
Britain has a long and spooky history of ghosts being sighted on roads and motorways.
In fact, we delved into the subject earlier this year- with the help of a website called the Paranormal Database - as we lifted the lid on the most unnerving encounters from the UK’s most haunted counties.
But it’s not just our highways that apparently harbour things that go bump in the night - as some of our car parks are just as likely to give you sleepless nights.
Graham Conway, Managing Director at Select, says: “I think we’ve all found ourselves alone in an empty car park, walking back to our vehicle late at night, with an odd sense of dread. Car parks can be really disconcerting, particularly those cavernous, dark, multi-storeys where danger seems to lurk around every corner. So it’s not surprising that many of these locations have chilling ghost stories attached to them.”
West Bell Street Car Park (Dundee, Scotland)
In the shadow of Abertay University in the port city of Dundee sits the imposing West Bell Street Car Park. It’s a labyrinth-like multi-storey built from bleak grey concrete.
And it also sits on the site of a former mass graveyard, where around 10,000 individuals were interred having lost their lives to typhoid and cholera during the 1800s.
While the bodies were ultimately reburied in the city’s Eastern Cemetery, some of the old headstones are still visible, built into the wall of the car park exit.
So, it’s perhaps no surprise that many car park users have reported supernatural occurrences, with claims of ‘screaming and crying echoing through the building’, according to one Reddit user.
Mount Pleasant Car Park (Liverpool)
When it comes to visitor parking in Liverpool, you can’t get much more convenient than the multi-storey on Mount Pleasant, which sits just a stone’s throw from the famous Adelphi Hotel.
But the entire Mount Pleasant street has a reputation for scaring folks witless, and many car park users have reported being completely ‘freaked out’ while there.
Reports of a wailing ‘banshee’ hail from further up Mount Pleasant, near the old ‘Wellington Rooms’ social hub.
Meanwhile Mount Pleasant’s John Foster Building, part of Liverpool John Moores University, is also reputed to be haunted, with staff there sensing a ‘presence’ and apparently having been touched by an unseen entity.
Culloden Moor (Inverness)
Take the B906 north east from Inverness and you’ll soon reach Culloden Moor.
And while you’re nestled in picturesque Scottish countryside, the area boasts a bloody past.
On April 16th, 1746, the Battle of Culloden was fought here - when government forces clashed with Prince Charles Edward Stuart - aka ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ - in a fight to gain control of the throne.
Prince Charlie lost heavily, ending the Jacobite uprising, as the British army triumphed.
The battle lasted just an hour, but still around 1,300 men lost their lives.
And now the car park located at the battlefield is rumoured to be haunted by the slain.
Spectral mists, disembodied voices, and the sounds of slaughter have all been experienced by visitors.
Burtonwood Services (M62, Cheshire)
Burtonwood is a busy motorway services on the M62 near Warrington in Cheshire.
And as you head back out to your vehicle after grabbing a late night coffee and a bite to eat, you might want to quicken your pace as you walk across the car park.
The Services are actually built on the site of the former RAF Burtonwood, which was used by the US Air Force during World War II. The modern service station is actually built across part of the airfield itself.
And, according to reports, the ghost of a US airman still lingers.
One former bus driver recently told a BBC Radio 5 phone-in that he’d seen the airman while tucking into a breakfast one morning.
The witness told host Dotun Adebayo: "I was sitting there eating my bacon and eggs and suddenly this guy walks in looking like a World War II American Air Force pilot.”
The Four Crosses Inn (Cannock Chase, Staffs)
The UK has no shortage of haunted pubs and watering holes, and there are countless examples to be found up and down the land.
But while most pubs confine the paranormal activity to INSIDE the walls, at some venues the supernatural spills outside, too.
That’s apparently the case at the Four Crosses Inn, located close to Cannock Chase, an area of outstanding natural beauty in Staffordshire that is itself home to all manner of terrifying legends - including werewolves, bigfoot encounters and UFOs.
In 2014, the Daily Star newspaper reported how ‘the phantom-like figure of a man dressed all in black’ had been seen ‘standing in the car park’ of the pub, while chilling ‘black-eyed child ghosts’ have also been seen hammering on the pub’s front door, begging to be let inside.
The Four Crosses Inn, which dates back to the 1600s, shut its doors in 2019.
Enjoyed this? Read our latest news
- New Skoda Kodiaq gets plug-in hybrid power
- Nissan unveils ‘Hyper Urban’ concept
- Limited edition McLaren GT launches
- New Enyaq vRS - fastest Skoda ever?
- Awesome Autumn Lease Deals this October 2023
Where To Next?
For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to our newsletter.
Looking for a great leasing deal? Check out our incredible range of special offers.
Read our latest reviews and find the right model for you.
Want to know more about leasing? Take a look at our comprehensive leasing guides.
Interested in everything motoring? Why not catch up on all the latest car leasing news.
