Shopkeepers think security cameras may have caught a ghostly sprite as it made an after hours appearance.

The spectral ball of light was captured at Richardson’s of Whitehaven, an independent wine merchants and coffee roaster, on Lowther Street, at 11.02pm on October 10.

The footage shows the ball coming from the wall and it flits across the screen for a couple of seconds before mysteriously disappearing again.

The light triggered the camera’s motion alarm which owner Gerard Richardson, 58, said couldn’t be triggered by things like insects.

Mr Richardson said: “I’m what you could call a sceptic but when you freeze frame and zoom-in on what it is, you can see that it is just light, I can’t explain it.

“We have had a few people say it’s an orb, I don’t know what it is.

“These buildings go back nearly 400 years, when you get places this old obviously they may have some baggage.

“I have to say I have never felt scared.”

He said there have been a number of strange experiences, including seeing shadows, and added that hauntings are treated as a in-joke with neighbouring shopkeepers.

Mr Richardson, who has run the business for 25 years, added: “To actually see something that you can’t put your finger on, I’m delighted.”

Sales manager Louise Savage, 50, who been at the business for 19 years, added: “We have both seen things like shadows.

“There may be something around but I’m not afraid of it, I’m often in the shop on my own.”

This week it was announced that the store is in the running to be named as Britain’s Best Small Shop of 2020. The competition celebrates the role of independent traders in the community.

To view the footage go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNSxjQgsLB4