Highgate Cemetery

London is a city of ghosts. Its rich - and often gruesome - history, old buildings and dark shadows mean that its streets are replete with tales of hauntings and other eerie occurrences. Here we look at some of the most famous claims of supernatural activity in the British capital.

Highgate Cemetery in North London is undoubtedly one of the most atmospheric locations in the city - along with being the final resting place of many of London's most famous residents. But in 1970, it also became known as a hotbed of paranormal activity, thanks to the tales (eagerly reported by the local press) of the "Highgate Vampire". What started as one man's reports of seeing ghostly grey shapes in the graveyard soon spiralled into tales of multiple ghosts, the discovery of dead animals supposedly drained of blood, and then claims that an undead Romanian nobleman - a "King Vampire" - had been reawakened by Satanists. Fuelled by the publicity, the public descended on the cemetery in March for a mass "vampire hunt". Some months later, a woman's headless body was discovered close by.

While the vampire frenzy died down after about a year, it hasn't entirely vanished - the two rival vampire hunters who started the rumours are still arguing about the events decades later.