I was stopped from going to the toilet by a ghost

A tourist has claimed she was spooked by a ghost lurking in the ladies loos - which stopped her from opening the toilet door.

Maxine, from Newark-on-Trent, was left flummoxed when she was left as she battled five times to get through the entrance while visiting the Earl Grey Tea Rooms in York.

But when she went down to ask staff if the door was stiff or someone was inside, she was shocked to find that the room was empty and swung open on her next attempt.

The 57-year-old, who had been to a mediumship evening the night before, and confessed that she is 'intrigued' by life beyond the veil, now believes she was teased by the mischievous ghoul.

The café sits on the ancient Shambles street - the inspiration for Harry Potter's Diagon Alley -  and staff say they have heard tales of a woman who stalks the upstairs rooms.

And it's not the first time the café's bogs have been under spiritual accusations - with another woman claiming the ghost of a child had grabbed her leg while she was washing her hands.

Maxine told MailOnline: 'I've been in the tea rooms before. It's little oldy worldy place. A bit eerie, I think.

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'I tried the door and I couldn't get in. I tried it quite a few times. I pushed and I pulled it, and I still couldn't get in.

'I thought maybe someone was in there. So I hung around on the landing for probably three or four minutes, and I came down and I said, I can't get in - is the door stiff or is there somebody in there?

'She looked at me really oddly, and she said, there's no one in there. We close soon.

'I went back upstairs, and then I pulled the door and it opened straight away. It was really weird. 

'I didn't really think about it straight away. But then on the train home, I said it was weird - as if somebody was not allowing me to go in. Like when you put your weight in the way.

'I thought there was something stopping me from getting in there 100 per cent - like  it was having a bit of a game with me. There's definitely a presence there.'

Maxine, who did not want to give her surname after being mocked by critics, goes to York every six weeks and had been to the café before while visiting her daughter,  who is doing a History PhD at the city's university.

York has a dark and bloodstained history - with over 500 hauntings within the ancient city walls causing it to be declared the most haunted city in Europe by the International Ghost Research Foundation. 

The 14th century Shambles, which was once home to the city's butchers, is widely considered as one of the most beautiful in the country and is among the best preserved medieval shopping streets in Europe. 

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Ghost hunters have said that there is a 'high probability' of the building being haunted.

And Maxine was amazed when she discovered as she searched up the cafe's past on the train ride home.

Another woman, Julie H from Inverness, said she was washing her hands when she 'felt what I thought was a child grab me by the leg - but no one was there...' 

She continued: 'I've got to admit, I do you believe in the afterlife and and things like that. So I googled is the York Tea Room haunted. It brought the other link up ad then I thought: wow - so maybe there is something.

'I'm not a stupid person. If you can't get in, you've you push or you pull, don't you? And you would, one would think you'd be able to get in.

'Once I went to the loo I didn't feel scared in there and think I've got to get out of here quick. And it made me smile as I was coming down the stairs to myself. 

'If it was something threatening I'd never go in there again. I thought it was somebody playing a trick on me, maybe a smaller child or just a person wanting to make themselves known.'

Maxine has since returned to the café and was able to get into the toilets unobstructed - although she didn't risk heading up to the site of the haunting on her own. 

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Maxine continued: 'I went with my friend. I said: 'You come with me when I go to the loo, I'm not going on my own!'

'I didn't say it was me who had the experience and me and my friend were talking about it, and the lady said 'Oh no, that's a load of cobblers!'

Café workers have previously dismissed the claims as 'cobblers', although a medium has claimed to have felt the presence of a sea captain in the cosy space, YorkMix reports.

And proprietor Howard Proctor told the newspaper that he had heard of sighting of an old man sitting at the corner table on the ground floor and a patch of carpet on the first floor that wears out very quickly - even though it is used far less than the carpets downstairs.

Mandie Webb, 56, has worked at the Earl Grey Tea Rooms for almost 20 years, and remembers serving Maxine when she was spooked by the toilet ghoul.

She laughed: 'She swears blind that there was someone pushing the door from the other side.

'There has been people who say that they have seen ghosts. Legend says there is a ghost upstairs. The first time I worked here I thought I saw something but I still don't know to this day what it was. 

'I thought a customer was sitting at a table, and I went over to say to him sorry, but we're closed. But there was nobody there. 

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'If we are haunted, they must be very good ghosts! Maybe it's because we are keeping the house alive with all the people?'

'I'm going to decorate it for Halloween, especially for our ghosts,' she giggled.

Founded in 71AD by the Romans before being invaded by the Vikings and a key site in the Norman Conquest and the English Civil War, spooky sights are a common occurrence in Britain's ancient Northern capital. 

Mackenzie Crompton, who runs the ghost tours Shadows of York and is currently writing a book on the city's hauntings, said there is an 'extremely high' probability that there is a ghost.

She said: 'Ultimately it will be down to - if there is a child that's haunting there - then a child has probably died in the area, if not the building.

'It is likely that these establishments had children, and sadly, children did die on a regular basis from accidents or disease. So there is a high probability that there is a haunting of a child there. 

'Those doors aren't the best doors in the world, I won't lie to you, but I would say the probability of somebody being in there, whether it's a child or an adult being quite playful, is potential.

'Considering how old the street is and the buildings are 14th and 15th century, people have died there a lot, and the probability is extremely high.'

Mark Graham, of the Original Ghost Walk of York, added that there have been previous ghostly stories in the area relating to tea.

He recounted a tale told to him by a Yorkshire farmer, who had visited York's market close to the Shambles with his wife and been invited into an elderly lady's home for a brew rather than spending money in a cafe.

The man described a home filled with pictures of a young man in old military dress, and said the lady talked and talked without them being able to get a word in edgeways.

But when they returned to thank her the next time they were in York they could never find the doorway again.

In a haunting tale, Mark later found out that an elderly lady who had lost a brother and a father in the Boer War had lived in the area - before the Little Shambles was knocked down in the early 20th century.

He said: 'That were over a cup of tea too. Lots of people have instances of unusual occurrences and don't report them.'