Christchurch - It's a spooky old town

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/The Press

GHOSTBUSTERS: Anton Heyrick, front, with members of his ghost-hunting team, Bridgette Hansen, left, Kelly Dugan and James McFarlane.

Christchurch's newest team of ghostbusters is ready for paranormal action.

The new group, dubbed Christchurch Paranormal Investigators, was set up by Anton Heyrick who has been on the trail of apparitions for 10 years with various groups.

Heyrick said he received 35 applications from people wanting to be part of his ghost hunting crew.

The applicants have been whittled down to a team now made up of four women and four men "with a passion for the paranormal."

"We're not out hunting ghosts for sport," Heyrick said. "What we're doing is investigating."

He said the group considered all possibilities in each case. "We do not claim to rid any location of ghosts but instead focus initially on natural and man-made phenomena, as well as using only scientific methods and theories to explain the circumstances."

Heyrick led an investigation into a ghostly presence at the former Addington Prison site, now the Jailhouse Hostel, in May. He said an apparition at the hostel had been caught on video.

Heyrick is now turning his ghost-hunting sights to Christ's College amid reports of unexplained sights and sounds at an old school building.

He said the calls had being flooding in since The Press reported on his investigation of the Jailhouse hostel.
"We've had six cases come in and that's not the norm. The most cases I've ever done in other groups in the past is three to four," Heyrick said.

The group, which offers its services free, is still looking for funding to get its website running.

- © Fairfax NZ News