VISITORS to a travel fair in Eastleigh can expect to see some ghostly apparitions in the form of the lady with the lamp Florence Nightingale, author Jane Austen and comedian Benny Hill.

Phoebe Langtry, the 19th century builder of Bursledon windmill, Second World War Spitfire pilot Miss WM Gore, plus 18th century radical author and one-time inhabitant of Botley, William Cobbett, are set to complete the blast from the past.

The characters will be on hand at Eastleigh's Fleming Park leisure centre on Sunday, January 14, to explain their connections with today's local attractions around Hamble, Bursledon, Netley and Eastleigh.

And the "ghosts" will also be handing out entry forms to win a host of prizes on the Itchen and Hamble Valley stand, ranging from dinner and bed and breakfast for two at the Potters Heron Hotel to four tickets to the award-winning Merry Wives play at Eastleigh's dance and arts centre, The Point, and a limited edition etching from Eastleigh's Beatrice Royal Contemporary Art Gallery.

The Southern Tourist Board Group Travel Fair will feature attractions from across the whole of the South, including crowd pullers such as Beaulieu, the Museum of Kent Life, the Swanage Railway and Flagship Portsmouth.

The fair is being hosted by the Itchen and Hamble Valley - the tourism branding for the borough of Eastleigh - and organisers say it will be ideal for anyone who organises group outings.

The 10.30am-4pm event is also open to the public and admission and parking is free.

For more information call Itchen and Hamble Valley Tourism on 023 8086 8404.