HALLOWEEN is fast approaching, the spooky time of year, so to mark the occasion the Dorset Echo has delved into the 'haunted' history of one of the county's famous sites.

Dorset's Nothe Fort was built in 1872 to protect Portland Harbour, which was an important Royal Navy Base at the time.

The fort is located in Weymouth, overlooking the bay, and played an important role in World War Two as a base for both the British and American Navy.

In 1956 it was abandoned before being purchased by the council in 1961. Nowadays it is a museum and tourist attraction.

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However, this landmark has a spooky side in its history which is said to have struck fear into staff members.

Nothe Fort is known for a tale of a ghostly whistling gunner who 'roams round' part of the site.

Over the years many people have claimed to hear the eerie whistling in the fort’s underground passageways.

While other people report witnessing a white figure seen walking around the fort on the parapets, the low protective wall along the edge of a roof, when the building is locked and there should be nobody there.

Some staff members who have worked at the Dorset attraction have been said to ‘refuse to visit certain’ areas of the fort alone.

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One of the passageways in Nothe Fort is even reportedly affectionately named after the ghostly gunner.

Tales of the gunner are said to have been spoken about in Weymouth for decades.

In 2007 a survey carried out by The National Lottery discovered that the fort was voted as one of the spookiest locations in the UK.

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Super Natural Investigations UK produced a report on their findings from a trip in 2010 which concluded they picked ‘energy’ of various spirits.

One of them was a man called George who they say died in the war and was a gunner on the frontline who had spent time in the area prior to going to the French battlefields.

Those who made the report also claim to have experienced hearing the ghostly whistling in a tunnel, with one of the team claiming to have seen a shadow move across the light while two others heard bangs in another direction; when there should have been no on else around.

Even now you can book yourself onto a ghost hunt tour of the fort in a bid to catch a glimpse of the gunner yourself.