CHESTER-LE-STREET, June 22: Australia’s world champion cricketers have been spooked by the legend of 700-year-old ghosts at their ancient Durham hotel. All-rounder Shane Watson was so rattled he slept on the floor of Brett Lee’s room.

Ricky Ponting’s team are staying at the historic Lumley Castle hotel in Chester-le-Street where the West Indies touring team in 2000 were so scared that three of them checked out.

Local folklore says the hotel is haunted by the ghost of a 14th century aristocrat who was murdered by Catholic priests.

Australia players and management reported seeing or hearing unusual things during the night.

“Several of the players were uneasy although a lot of them in the morning said they were fine ... but maybe they were just trying to be brave,” Australia media officer Belinda Denenett told The Sun.

“I saw ghosts. I swear I’m telling the truth.

“I closed the blind in my room before I went to bed. But when I was woken at 4am by my phone, the blind was up again,” she added.

“I looked out of the window and saw a procession of white people walking past. It was amazing, very scary.

“Then I returned to bed and the blind went up again - and there was someone looking in through the window.

“I know I wasn’t dreaming because I wrote down the message from my phone and the time. Certainly, when I started to tell my story, a lot of them didn’t want to know the details.”

The hotel, which overlooks the cricket ground, is where lady of the manor Lily Lumley was reputedly thrown down a well by a pair of priests when she rejected the Catholic church.

The hotel is full of dark corridors and the medieval atmosphere is enhanced by the staff dressing in period costume.—AFP