A spectral sentry is apparently launching a phantom protest to protect his old haunt from the bulldozers.

A series of spooky encounters have sent shivers down the spines of staff at an antiques shop earmarked for demolition.

Clocktower Antiques on Queens Road, Brighton, is set to be demolished.

The owner has applied for planning permission to replace it with a new shop and flats.

But several ghostly sightings have made the manager wonder if someone is registering their disapproval.

The shop is steeped in history and in the past was used by a money lender. The cellar was a secret drinking den.

Derek Wallace, who has run the shop for 12 years, said there have been reports of spirited behaviour for some time but these have increased dramatically in the last few months.

He said: "About eight weeks ago a lady asked if there had been any ghost sightings.

"She said her mother had come in and seen an old man on the stairs. He disappeared in front of her and left her very shaken.

"Then, last week, there was a figure in front of me on the stairs. Because of its position, I could only see its body.

"It was wearing a big cloak and I could hear it moving around. I saw it for a few seconds but then it was if I startled it and it disappeared.

"I checked the upstairs rooms but there was no one there.

"I shouted down to my colleague and he said I looked like I'd seen a ghost. I said I had."

Derek, 47, said he has always been sceptical about the reports before but his hairs stand on end if he walks up the stairs alone now.

As well as the man on the stairs, a shadowy figure has been seen in an upstairs window and mysterious noises have been heard.

Pat Connolly, 59, who runs Pat's Place, the sandwich bar next door, said: "I've never seen anything but I've heard furniture moving overhead when there was nobody upstairs.

"Sometimes I have thought there was someone out the back and have sent my husband out to see if there was an intruder but there was no one there.

"This has been on-going since I opened here 14 years ago and although people have said things to Derek, he has always pooh-poohed the idea - until he saw something which put the wind up him.

"It is quite possible there could be something going on - there is a chequered history to the building, I'm sure."