The use of the word "spooky" in connection with the discovery of a walled-up passage at the George Beard public house (Argus, May 26) may have been appropriate for, in my book, Brighton Ghosts, Hove Hauntings, I refer to the ghost of a woman jailer who, more than 25 years ago, sometimes appeared on the cellar steps. The sound of clinking keys accompanied her appearances. This would seem to confirm that police cells once existed on the site.

The older part of Brighton is, of course, criss-crossed by scores of underground tunnels - far too many to assume they were all connected with smuggling, though obviously some would have been. Because in years gone by the French frequently raided the South Coast, the tunnels may have been built to provide easy escape for townsfolk in the event of a raid or to store goods where the French would not find them.

Should the landlord of the George Beard decide to knock down the wall blocking off the passage, I wouldn't mind an invite to be there. I once attended such an occasion in another town. The builder almost collapsed with fright when, shining his torch through the hole he had knocked through the wall, he saw what he thought was a ghost. His torchlight had reflected on the swirling mist of dust he had just created.

-John Rackham, Rotherfield Crescent, Brighton