The plant in Prince William Parade has been inspected by a parapsychologist after staff complained about strange voices and unexplained sightings.

Mark Wey, who has worked at the plant since 2000 and decided to call in the paranormal investigator, said, "People feel uneasy when they enter the building and the hairs on the back of your neck go up.

"There are unexplained instances. A lot of people do not like going in there."

Mark went to a seminar run by Michael Kingscote, who is a medium and parapsychologist. He arranged for Michael to visit the plant on Saturday with his specialist equipment.

Michael said, "There seems to be one particular area that's giving people the creeps. People have seen and felt things. I tried to not listen too much before though."

Mark told the Herald some of the stories and where strange goings-on were a frequent occurrence — but he kept the detail secret from Michael until after his visit.

He said, "When you go into the building there is a set of double doors. You get the feeling you can hear voices.

"As soon as you move the doors it shuts up. Then you go back in and you can't hear it, it's always just the first time you go in."

On another occasion, Mark said he saw a mystery figure walk into the room, out of the corner of his eye.

Another member of staff thought they were being watched when working in the chemical room and when they looked up all they saw was a shadow.

Mark said the fire doors in the control room are sprung loaded and need quite a lot of force to open, but he has seen them swing on their own.

Photographs taken on the night Michael visited the plant revealed orbs of light moving around particular rooms in the plant, which he said suggested evidence of ghostly activity.

He also said a 'humanoid shadow' can be seen in one of the pictures and a 'muffled conversation' was caught on a tape recorder — although he was the only person in the plant.

"I can assure you no one else was in the building," he added.

Mark said, "It was fascinating, once I had shown him around.

"He instantly detected someone standing there and he was suspicious there was something quite unusual there.

"The conclusion is, we can't prove it is haunted because of strong electromagnetic fields, which can cause the illusion of being haunted, the feeling of being touched or watched, but there is paranormal activity."

A Southern Water spokesperson said, "Mark has a personal interest in the afterlife and found our underground site at Eastbourne somewhat spooky.

"He organised this psychic investigation as part of his ghostly hobby and we hope the findings weren't too frightening."