PARANORMAL investigator Dave Hughes said he often finds himself debunking the myth his job is just like the one featured in the 1984 film Ghostbusters.

“People say to me, ‘oh, you’re a ghostbuster.’ They think I go prancing around with a Dyson or Hoover sucking up spirits.”

In reality, however, ghost hunting is perhaps a lot less dramatic and action packed than Hollywood makes out, although Mr Hughes tells me the adrenaline rush is no less exciting.

I spent the afternoon with the Cwmbran-based paranormal investigator, who has been interested in ghosts since he was a teenager and became fully trained in paranormal research more than 10 years ago.

We met at The Hanbury Arms, in Pontypool, a former execution house dating from the 1830s and allegedly one of the most haunted pubs in Wales.

The Torfaen pub, on Clarence Street, is said to be home to the souls of a little girl named Emily and a small boy in Victorian dress.

As someone who is doubtful of the existence of ghosts but happily open-minded, I wondered how necessary a belief in the paranormal is for the job of a ghost hunter.

“When I started I was probably only about 50 per cent sure they exist,” Mr Hughes told me.

“Now, I’m 100 per cent certain there’s something going on that can’t be explained by what we know so far. I’ve experienced that.”

Mr Hughes said every paranormal investigator has their own personal reasons for developing an interest in the supernatural, and for him it was losing his mother to cancer when he was just 14.

“For a while I used to think I could see her. I didn’t know if I was dreaming but I wanted to find answers so I started getting into ghost stuff.”

His interest developed into a more serious hobby and he underwent a year’s training course with South Wales Paranormal Research, an organisation that investigates apparitions, hauntings and other paranormal phenomena.

“As a paranormal investigator you are a bit of a historian and a detective, so you train by looking at case studies and going along to investigations.”

Mr Hughes’ job is split into two areas; the money-making side, which sees him lead public visits and tours of haunted properties as part of his company Spectral Quest, and then private investigations, which he does free of charge.

“People often contact us when they think a property is haunted but want confirmation. We go in, spend a few hours and tell them if we find any activity.

“If we think it’s haunted, their choices are to either contact a medium or exorcist, or alternatively do nothing. Sometimes people say it’s nice to have them, but they just wanted to know.”

Training in paranormal research is important, as Mr Hughes said half of the job is scientific and half is about hoping for the supernatural.

He said: “You go in hoping for answers but it doesn’t always happen. You have to rule a lot out before you can start looking for things out of the norm.

“But the starting point is that you always go in to debunk something. You go into every investigation hoping for answers but you come out with half a dozen new questions.”

Mr Hughes, a musician, composer and music teacher in his day job, said investigators need to be sensitive to other issues at play. “Sometimes you are called to private situations where there is nothing paranormal going on but there is evidence of mental illness or other underlying issues.”

Our investigation at The Hanbury Arms started in the bedrooms upstairs, where landlord Mark Baker, who bought the pub three years ago, said no one has ever been able to sleep.

He said: “The original plan was for me and my family to live upstairs, but we can’t because of the noises throughout the night. We’ve had people come and try but no-one’s managed to get a wink of sleep.”

The first piece of equipment Mr Hughes drew out of his small, metal case was an electromagnetic field meter about the size of a mobile phone.

According to the most accepted theory, ghosts need to draw on some sort of energy to manifest themselves, and often they draw on the electromagnetic field that exists all around us.

Mr Hughes told me the meter rules out anything emitted by man-made technology or human sources, so any readings on the meter – which flashes from green, orange to red depending on the strength – could suggest paranormal activity.

We stood in the first bedroom, with its low ceilings and crooked floors, and turned the two meters on, which both immediately flashed up to red.

“That is interesting,” said Mr Hughes, clearly pleased. “Even in most places I go to it doesn’t go off like that.”

We repeated the test with one of landlord Mr Baker’s own meters – which he bought online, after being sceptical of other equipment – but the same thing happened.

The next test used a digital thermometer, a piece of equipment that relies on the theory that the temperature drops when an alleged ghost manifests itself.

“If there is a cold spot reported, we first have to look for any windows or a fan, for example. If you rule that out and it’s still cold, then you can use the thermometer.”

Mr Hughes said he has seen around a dozen apparitions – including shafts of light or shadowy figures – but has heard, felt, smelt and experienced paranormal phenomena touching him hundreds of times.

Does he still get scared? “It does sound blasé but you do get a bit used to it. The first few times you are scared, but now if I saw something I would go after it.

“You still get the initial shock but then it’s the best adrenaline rush.”

“The scariest experience I’ve had was in The Sessions House in Usk. One of my colleagues was talking and this big wooden door, which had been wedged, suddenly slammed shut and opened again. It did it a few times.

“It was a solid wooden door so the wind can’t do that. Some of us positioned ourselves round the back so we could see what was going on. As I went around the corner I could feel this icy wind coming towards me and I felt two hands push into my chest, a heck of a force.”

It is clear Mr Hughes is an excellent storyteller, something which is handy when leading his night-time tours. Just listening to his stories – at 2pm on a weekday afternoon – leaves me feeling a little bit unsettled.

Before I leave we take a trip down to the cellar of the pub, where Mr Hughes introduces me to another technique used by investigators – calling out.

It apparently works around in about half of all cases, and involves addressing the spirits verbally with questions or requests.

The EMF metre flashed again, but it was intermittent and not as strong as in the upstairs bedrooms.

The atmosphere in the dark cellar, with the silence, flickering candles and flashing EMF meter, does inspire a certain creepiness but I’m still unsure whether the whole experience has left me wholly convinced.

“One of the biggest things,” Mr Hughes said, “is you can tell someone any number of stories, but unless they experience it for themselves, they might not always believe.”

Spectral Quest runs a series of ghost hunts and tours, with a Hallowe’en special organised at The Hanbury Arms. For more information or tickets visit spectralquest.co.uk