With all its years of history, it's not surprising that Chester was once described as one of the most haunted cities in Britain.

Many buildings in the city have their own ghost story to tell, and over the coming weeks we will be exploring some of the most mysterious and unexplained tales.

One of the the most famous Chester ghost stories is that of Sarah, who it has long been claimed, is the ghost that haunts the Thornton's chocolate shop in Eastgate Street.

Permanent resident

Folklore says Sarah was a charming young lady living on Eastgate Street in the late 18th or early 19th century, who fell in love with a man called Wilhelm who ended up jilting her on their wedding day.

Being jilted left Sarah so devastated that she returned to her home and hung herself, causing havoc on the premises ever since.

She has never been physically seen but has made her presence very much known over the years.

According to an article called Parascience, chronicling the ghosts of Chester, one of the shop's managers once experienced 'a possession' when staff spotted her coming down the stairs singing an unknown song and holding her hands out as if lifting a long and heavy dress in order to descend the stairs.

Strange happenings

The manager can offer no explanation for this. But other strange things continued to happen.

Shortly afterwards, an American tourist who dismissed the stories of the ghost as 'rubbish', was immediately pushed down the stairs by an invisible hand.

Then an electrician who went to read the meter in the cellar was not down there long at all before he ran back up the stairs saying he felt he was being watched by something very unpleasant.

Related: Is this the ghost of Inglewood Manor?

And Sarah has also proved useful to the police - once when a burglar broke into the shop and stole the days takings from the safe, he felt so spooked that he fled in such a hurry, leaving behind all his tools and a full set of fingerprints.

Sarah was also reported to have taken a dislike to the shop's Valentine's Day display in 1991. The heart shaped boxes of chocolates were often found scattered all over the shop floor of the shop, while the ordinary boxes of chocolates that had been stacked in front of them, remained undisturbed.

But interestingly, most of Sarah's supernatural movements have happened in the building's top floor front room and the cellar.

Do you have a ghost story to tell? Let us know in the comments below.