Motorists who drive through the Dunstable and Houghton Regis area could be forgiven for thinking they are entering the Twilight Zone.

Research into Britain's most haunted highways and byways has revealed that Bedfordshire is among the country's most paranormal places.
A number of drivers are said to have reported a run-in with ghosts and other spooky apparitions.

Unexplained sightings are said to include the lost spirits of two cricketers, who wander along the A5 between Markyate and Dunstable, towards the Packhorse pub.

They're thought to have been killed in a road accident while travelling back from a cricket match.

Other spinechilling stories have also made it onto a list of spooky sightings, compiled by mycarcheck.com, the car data checking company.
In Sundon Road, Houghton Regis, a dark-clad figure is said to have been seen and felt by road users.

The phantom is said to cross the road in front of traffic.
A few years ago, a man walking towards The Chequers pub reported seeing the head and shoulders of a figure some distance in front of him, which suddenly vanished into thin air.

Days later, the same witness claimed to have been pushed into a ditch by the side of the road at almost the same spot, by an unseen force.
Buttercup Lane, in Dunstable, is the scene of reported sightings of a mysterious figure, almost 10ft tall and floating about 18 inches off the ground.

The featureless spectre, wearing a big brimmed hat, is said to be shrouded in a glowing mist, which changes colour from white to black and disguises any outline of arms or legs as it glides silently along.
And Drury Lane, Houghton Regis, is said to be the haunt of a young, barefoot girl wearing a thin, white party dress.

It is claimed that the apparition has been seen on dark winter nights since the 1930s.

And the thinking is that she might be the spirit of a young girl knocked down and killed crossing the road near that spot, while returning from Sunday School one afternoon.

Countless tales have been told over the years of things that go bump in the night in the Dunstable area.

The mycarcheck.com list doesn't include the strange story of the Stanbridge hitchhiker.

A motorist was driving home along Station Road on an October evening in 1979, when he reached the junction with Peddars Lane and he saw a young man aged about 20, thumbing a lift.

The hitchhiker got in, did not speak but indicated the direction in which he wanted to travel.

A mile down the road, at 40mph, the driver glanced at where the man should have been sitting. He had disappeared...

Dunstable has been celebrating its ghostly reputation with a special series of walks over the past few years.

The next two Ghost Walks, starting from the Priory House heritage centre, in High Street South, will be on Sunday, December 16, and Friday, December 28. They begin at 5.15pm, and walkers are asked to take along a torch. Under-16s must be accompanied by an adult.

For tickets, £5 per person, call in at the heritage centre.