Ghostbusters! Official probe into bumps in the night.
Weird, psychic events at the old Ruislip ambulance station, which have terrorised staff into believing the building is haunted, are being investigated by the London Ambulance Service. Ambulance workers have detailed a list of ghostly events, including crockery falling from cupboards, and mysterious ringing bells which have terrified hardened emergency staff. Some women drivers, too shy to talk of their fears, have refused to do night overtime shifts at the station in Eastcote Road.
A medieval tunnel is believed to run under the building, connecting the ancient St Martin’s Church with Ruislip Library by the Great Barn, which used to house priests. This, think investigators, may be behind the series of strange happenings. A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service headquarters said: “We are intrigued and want to get to the bottom of what has been happening. A lot of people are talking about it.”
Ambulance driver Michael Palmer, of Great Central Avenue, Ruislip, aged 37, and married with three children, told the Informer of the nights which terrified him. “I’m a regular churchgoer – I shouldn’t believe in ghosts. But I was sitting in the rest room one night with a mate, when the door handle turned. I grabbed the handle – but I couldn’t open the door. Eventually I forced it open, and the room turned as cold as a morgue. There was a sudden bang in the kitchen – I went in and found crockery, knives and forks spinning on the floor. No-one had been in there.”
Ambulancewoman Madge Johnston was working there with colleague Patricia Greene, who was parking the ambulance. “Everything came on,” said Madge. “The horn and klaxon started blaring out, the blue light and hazard lights flashed with all the other lights on the vehicle, and the bell started ringing. Pat was sitting in the cab deathly white – she said she hadn’t touched a thing. It all just happened.”
Harry Jones, a former Ruislip ambulanceman, said he had noted several instances of what he thought were “supernatural” events at the station. “The mysterious turning of door handles has happened to a lot of people,” he said. “There is something very odd about the area – it takes a lot to convince hardened ambulance workers – but I’m convinced.”
Uxbridge Informer, 2nd September 1988.