“DO YOU believe in ghosts?” someone asked me recently.

I said yes, I did, although I have never seen one myself.

I grew up in an 18th century former village bakehouse which I am sure was home to many a shenanigan, but I didn’t ever feel a ghostly presence.

My late parents, however, had a very unsettling experience. My dad was in the bath late one night when he saw a woman in a white nightdress pass across the landing towards their bedroom. He thought it was my mum going to bed and said something to her but she didn’t reply.

Minutes later he was surprised to see my mum fully dressed, coming up the stairs. She said she had been out in the garage for the past half-hour sorting out the freezer.

A few months later a guest staying at my parents’ house for bed and breakfast emerged from the staircase terrified after seeing a “ghostly woman” in white cross the landing.

And one night, when staying at the house, my husband felt someone move across him as he slept on a camp bed on the bedroom floor and then the window rattled. He thought it was me but I was asleep in a nearby bed.

“I didn’t feel threatened or scared at all, and I am sure it was female,” he said.

You could not find anyone more cynical than my dad about such things. My husband would also take a lot of convincing, so on their testimony I am persuaded as to the existence of ghosts.

People generally associate haunted houses with rambling, old properties. But, although a ghost has never been sighted in my small 1920’s semi, evidence points towards it being haunted.

There are, according to Physchicworld.com, signs to look out for that your home is occupied by spectres.

One is temperature changes - an unwanted cold chill appearing out of nowhere. This happens regularly in my home. My husband says it takes place every time he does anything wrong, and usually comes from my direction.

Objects moving and falling is another sign that a supernatural presence is at large. I spend half my life looking for things that have inexplicably moved. Some are never seen again. This year two pairs of glasses have disappeared. My husband insists that he is not to blame - so where are they? Ghosts have a tough time of it, going bump in the night. The phantoms inhabiting our home clearly couldn’t resist a couple of pairs of specs to help them find their way.

Electricals malfunctioning is another sure sign of paranormal activity. I am glad there’s finally an answer to the strange behaviour of our TV, which sometimes decides to display subtitles or other features without any input from us. If I the house phantom was responsible I wouldn’t spend several exasperating hours trying to fix the problem.

Pets can always pick up on anything out of the ordinary, and over the years our cats would often scratch at doors and utter loud yowling sounds. Or maybe that was every time they heard me opening the fridge…

All things considered, I am going to conclude that my modest 20th century home is haunted.

I imagine it’s quite trendy nowadays to live such a place, what with the popular TV series Ghosts, which I haven’t seen, but everyone seems to be raving about.

Maybe one or more of these unearthly beings will show up at Halloween. I hope so. I will know how to recognise them - they’ll be wearing my glasses, which, ghost or no ghost, I am determined to get back.