WHEN John Treasure Jones, former captain of the legendary Southampton liner the Queen Mary, described her as "the nearest ship ever to a living being", he probably was not talking about activity from the afterlife below deck.

But the famous Southampton liner does have a reputation for something other than its opulent luxury - ghostly goings-on.

Its plush staterooms and miles of corridors are the stomping ground of a horde of ghosts if hundreds of independent sightings are to be believed.

The great ship's website admits the former transatlantic liner is saturated with spooks, saying: "For years paranormal experts have believed that the Queen Mary is haunted. Passengers and crew members alike have reported numerous eerie sightings."

The spooky legends are fully exploited in her current incarnation as a hotel and tourist attraction in Long Beach, California, with terror tours of the historic 65-year-old vessel.

One couple, John and Delysia Spurden, did not need a tour. The ghosts found them during a recent stay aboard the Queen Mary in her permanent home in Long Beach, California.

The pair, who were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their engagement, witnessed mist coming in through an air vent in their cabin which was followed by a strange noise.

Mr Spurden, 73, said: "We thought it was the fire alarm and we panicked, grabbed the passports, money and tickets and went to reception.

"Reception said there was no fire on board the ship so we eventually turned to go back.

"But as we walked down the long corridor I saw a strange lady of middle age dressed in black and asked her if she saw anything and she just gestured 'no'.

"Then I turned round and saw a man around six feet tall dressed in dungarees with the British flag on the left-hand pocket and I asked if there were any problems down in the ship.

"He said there was no need to worry and nothing was wrong.

"My wife and I looked at each other and thought 'this is strange' but when I looked back along the corridor, there was no one there. It was definitely eerie."

The couple, from Verwood in Dorset, are convinced they had an authentic encounter with the afterlife

"I feel I am quite a sane man but I feel very affected by what happened," said Mr Spurden.

When the Queen Mary's eagerly-awaited successor Queen Mary 2 steams on to the world's oceans in 2003 it will surpass her sister ship in all departments. Except it won't come with more than a half a century of history, a great character and an intriguing but eerie link with the other side.