A BUILDER from Kidderminster claims to have captured a ghost dog said to haunt an alleyway in Stourport on camera.

Marc Potter, who runs a Facebook page on local urban myths, began filming a short film about 'Trixie the Ghost Dog' after growing up in Stourport hearing tales about the supposedly-haunted alleyway between Lickhill and Worth Crescent.

Marc told The Shuttle: "I lived right by Trixie's alley until I was about 18 when I moved to Kidderminster.

"It used to be just a dirt track with a chemical swamp from the factories to the left of it.

"When I was growing up I'd hear about this dog Trixie and it scared the death out of us as kids. People would say they had heard a dog howling down there at night. Me and my friends used to dare each other to run down it.

"I started doing some research and speaking to older generations locally and it seems the story evolved over the years to scare kids to stop them playing down there. The true origins of the story are not that scary.

"It turns out Trixie was just a little dog who lived on Worth Crescent with its owner in the 1960s.

"This dog used to escape all the time and they used to find it down this dirt track.

"The dog eventually passed away and the locals affectionately named it Trixie's Hill. At one point there was even a sign at the bottom but that was removed decades ago. But the name has stuck with the locals."

When Marc returned to the alleyway in October last year to start work on his film, there was no sign of Trixie - but he noticed something strange while editing the footage.

"It wasn't until I began editing later that I noticed something in the background," he said. "I blew up the image and I was gobsmacked. I thought all my Christmasses had come at once.

"I am a sceptic. I don't go out looking for ghosts, I just like highlighting the stories that scare me.

"But I didn't see a cat or a dog while I was filming. If I'd spotted a cute dog or fluffy cat I'd have shooed them off so they didn't ruin the mood of the shot.

"I posted the picture on Facebook and the response has been brilliant. I've had messages from people telling me they're still scared to walk down that alley."

He added: "Some people are saying I edited that photo but it was filmed on a phone and I don't have Photoshop. I just wish I could prove that to people."