Oxford's creepy colleges and haunted homes are revealed in a new book by resident Rob Walters.

Mr Walters, of Paradise Street, is a guide on the city's renowned ghost tours, so is well placed to document its spooky past.

Locals may have heard about the phantom that wanders Christ Church Meadow, and the eerie ruins of Godstow Abbey are well known, but Haunted Oxford promises new anecdotes.

Following a series of adverts he placed in the Oxford Mail, Mr Walters was contacted by a number of people with personal tales of ghostly encounters.

These include a spook seen in the cellar by the previous manager of the historic Eagle and Child pub in St Giles and the ghosts of two twin undergraduates spotted in St Peter's College.

Mr Walters said: "Just as people tell doctors their ailments, people always tell me their ghostly experiences - it's fascinating.

"There's about 16 stories in the book, from modern ones right back to the time of Henry II."

He was particularly interested in the story of the two male twins in St Peter's College. He said: "The Bishop of Liverpool founded the college and we believe the ghostly apparitions seen were his two twin sons, who were undergraduates there."

"The chap that saw them didn't know anything about that - which made it particularly impressive."

Mr Walters has never had a brush with a phantom himself, but said those on his tours had often reported strange happenings.

He said: "Once a woman started screaming, saying something was touching her back.

"I don't know quite what it was but it obviously affected her."

And he said Oxford had a long historical link with the paranormal.

He added: "There was a survey done in England in the 19th century asking if people had experienced a ghost.

"Of the 27,000 people that replied, 10 per cent claimed they had and when they analysed the results, the most dense amount of people were in Oxford. We're the ghost capital.

"Down some of the alleyways and places like Merton Street, it can really get quite eerie at night."

Haunted Oxford is published by Tempus and is on sale in most city bookshops and at Oxford Castle.