'Haunted' Penwortham sweet shop captures 'paranormal activity' on camera

The freaky footage was filmed at Lolipops sweet shop in Liverpool Road on Saturday (June 3) and shows a bottle of sauce suddenly falling off the ice cream counter – not just once, or even twice, but four times! – as if pushed by a phantom hand.

Owners Amy and Lauren Elleray-Wilson suspect it might be the work of a ghostly visitor, but the couple say they are not afraid.

"We don’t know exactly what it is, but we believe it is most likely paranormal,” said Amy.

"There’s not really any other explanation we can think of. The ice cream fridge doesn’t vibrate or shake and it’s the same bottle which keeps falling off.

"We’ve had people accusing us of using string wire and playing all sorts of tricks. Some people just don’t want to believe, but we’re not making it up.

"I don’t think it is anything to worry about. If it is a spirit haunting our shop, I don’t think there is any reason to be scared. It might be a bit mischievous but it seems harmless.

"We’ve never felt afraid when we’re in the shop, even early in the morning or after we’ve closed and we’re here alone. We're not spooked by it.

“Whatever ‘It’ is, I think it just has a sweet-tooth and it’s more playful than scary. There’s nothing sinister about it."

It’s not the first time Amy and Lauren have encountered ghostly goings-on at Lolipops.

Last July, they suspected a ghost of triggering the security cameras and shared footage of a bag being ‘pushed’ off the counter.

The incident was caught on camera and white orbs could be seen floating around the shuttered shop at night. You can view the video here.

Amy, 32, said: “When the motion detector goes off in the shop at night we get a notification on our phone. At first, you think someone is breaking in. Your heart drops, and you feel sick.

“But when we looked at it, we could just see this white orb flying around the screen, so we thought what’s going on?

“We shared it on social media and people started saying, 'Oh my days, can you see the phantom arm? And the other orb?'

“We looked more closely and turned the brightness up, and I was like, 'Wow, you could see all this activity.’ It’s freaky!”

Who are they gonna’ call?

Ghost hunters, paranormal investigators and mediums have all reached out to Amy and Lauren to see whether they can make contact with the mischievous, sweet-toothed spirit.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from people who work in this field, and some have popped into the shop asking how the ghost is.

"Some were tagging ghost hunters in our Facebook post and asking to sleepover. Others have said they get a distinct feeling when they enter the shop. They can feel a certain energy.

"But at the moment, we’re happy for whatever it is to stick around. We’re in no rush to chase it away.

“We don’t think it is here to scare us. If anything, it's a friendly spirit and it might even be part of the building’s history.”

If there is a paranormal explanation for the happenings, Amy suspects it could be the ghost of a little boy who she thinks may have haunted them at their former home in Bamber Bridge.

She said: “We had really freaky happenings in the house we used to live in. The TV, lights and taps would turn on and off.

“Lauren could hear people running up and down the stairs and she once thought she saw the ghost in the corner of the bedroom.

“We were told the house was haunted by a little boy.”

Amy and Lauren also own a second Lolipops store in Mounsey Road, Bamber Bridge. Both shops stock a huge range of British sweets and American candy, including a retro selection and a self serve pick n mix with over 90 different sweets to choose from.

You can follow them on Facebook here.