THE cobbled streets and twisted alleyways of Oxford have long been the stuff of ghost-hunting legend.

But with Halloween arriving tomorrow night, the city’s spooks will have a hand in boosting the local economy too.

Martin Walker, head of development and marketing at Experience Oxfordshire, said: “Events like ghost tours bring visitors into the city centre during the evening – a time when other attractions are closed – so it’s a great way of encouraging a longer stay.”

For ghost tour guide Bill Spectre, whose act was last year ranked one of the top 10 in the world by TripAdvisor, Halloween is the best time of the year.

He said: “It’s my favourite time. It’s still warm, yet dark early for the ghost tours.

“I definitely see a pick-up in interest – it goes completely crazy.

“Halloween has got bigger as well. It’s marketed a lot more by all the shops as an extra burst of fun before Christmas.”

This year Mr Spectre – real name Bill Ritchie – has put on two extra 9pm tours to keep up with demand over the Halloween weekend.

He said: “It’s the perfect storm. It’s a Saturday, and Halloween, when things tend to get a bit lairy.

“There’s a fascination with ghosts everywhere but there are ghosts all over the place in Oxford.”

Many of Oxford’s best-known sightings have taken place in the creaking halls of Oxford University colleges, on ancient sites near the Westgate Shopping Centre and Oxford Castle, and Broad Street, where the Oxford Martyrs were burned.

At the same time a plethora of pubs and other locations claim to have their own resident ghouls.

Katie Peatfield, a barmaid at the Trout pub in Wolvercote, said it is reputedly haunted by 12th century figure Rosamund the Fair.

She added: “The story is that we used to be a hospital with the nunnery, which is now a ruin, across the river. The nuns used to work here.

“King Henry came here and slept with one of the nuns. Some people thing it was more than an affair.

“When he went off to war his wife killed her and she is supposed to haunt the pub.”