West Midlands Police received almost 150 calls reporting sightings of witches, ghosts and UFOs over the past five years. Spooked members of the public contacted the force in their droves amid fears of paranormal activity. While the majority required no further police action, one call, made in February 2010 over a reported witch, resulted in an arrest. Over a five year period more than 70 reports of witch sightings and witchcraft were made to police (file image) Spooked residents dialled 999 more than 40 times to report ghost sightings while around 30 calls were placed about UFOs. Almost 80 different reports of witches or witchcraft were filed. Of all the calls made only eight were classified as hoaxes. The rush in reports of paranormal activity was not to be mocked, said police who offered advice on dozens of the cases. 'While the figures can seem amusing, behind some of these 'supernatural' calls may be a deeply troubled individual or a person wasting valuable police time, which would be better spent preventing real crimes,' a spokesman said. 'West Midlands Police always take action against those found to be knowingly making false and malicious calls to the emergency services.' Nick Duffy of the West Midlands Ghost Club said the police had long received calls from panicked members of the public . Nick Duffy, leading light of West Midlands Ghost, believes the surge is down to the increasing popularity of supernatural-themed television programmes. 'When we started in 1989 we were the only one in the Midlands,' he said. 'Six years ago there were 70. I stopped counting after that. 'If you call a paranormal group, they will not come out of your house without something happening - and that is the real problem. 'These figure are also a by-product of Most Haunted and all the American rubbish. 'For people who experience things like poltergeist activity, the police have always been a go-to source.' Among the cases Mr Duffy has been involved with was a woman who thought she had a polar bear or werewolf living in her back garden. 'She hadn't seen it, but had heard growling and scratching around the bins. I asked if it could've been dogs?' Mr Duffy added the popularity of programmes such as Most Haunted (above) had sparked people's interest .
West Midlands Police received 152 calls reporting paranormal activity . Dozens thought they had seen UFOs, ghosts and witches in the region . One person was arrested in February 2010 as a result of one call .