Halloween: Avon and Somerset Police received dozens of calls reporting witches, wizards, zombies, werewolves and goblins

When there’s something strange in your neighbourhood, who do you call? It turns out lots of people call the police, given the absence of any real-life Ghostbusters.

A Freedom of Information request by the Bristol Post newspaper revealed Avon and Somerset Police had received dozens of calls reporting paranormal sightings in recent years.

One caller reported a werewolf in their bath, while another claimed they had actually become a ghost.

A man from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, reported a goblin at his front door.

Another caller insisted there was a ghost in his house because it had gone cold.

Other stories include a ghost coming out of a TV set in the style of popular horror movie The Ring, a witch stirring her cauldron outside a house, and a woman in Somerset claiming she had died and become a zombie.

Another woman contacted police to say she was expecting a ghost child.

The calls have become such an issue that over the summer that the city’s force launched a campaign to encourage people to think before dialling 999.

Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Watson said: “The nature of policing today means we must place calls about threat, harm and risk at the very top of the list for our officers to respond. We want to encourage people to help us in protecting those who are most vulnerable by thinking before they call us and asking themselves, is their call really important and necessary?”

Simon Bampflyde, from the Bristol Ghost Club, thinks callers “just want to be reassured”.

He said: “I can understand why the police find it difficult to respond. It can be really difficult, because sometimes it’s psychological issues but sometimes it could be true.”