A PUB believed to be home to the 200-year-old ghost of a Portuguese sailor has gone into administration.

The 19th century Spice Ship at Preston is locked up and has not traded for a week.

Three land-written notices on the front, side and back of the pub tell callers: With regret the Spice Ship is closed until further notice'.

The pub, which used to be owned by both Devenish and Greenalls, is now leased out by Punch Taverns, a pub company which owns more than 9,300 pubs across the country.

A spokesman for Punch said today: "We can confirm that the Spice Ship has been trading in administration for several months and the administrators have now taken the decision to close the pub.

"We are in discussion with them to return possession of the pub back to Punch and it is then our intention to get the pub reopened in partnership with a new lessee as soon as possible."

The Spice Ship did not just serve spirits but was believed to have a ghost of its own in the form of a Portuguese sailor looking for his shipmates who drowned in a wreck off Dorset 200 years ago.

The ancient mariner was blamed for a variety of ghostly goings-on from door knocking and foot steps to turning on taps and activating alarms. He was even blamed for pulling a landlord out of bed.

One explanation for the ghost is that it is believed that the pub's cellar used to be a mortuary.