District of Easington Council paid £60 towards the ghostbuster's fee after the Fallon family asked for her help.

Mum Sabrina Fallon called in medium Suzanne Hadwin after hearing banging from the loft, seeing items fly across rooms and having doors slammed in the family's faces.

The council, which has admitted the action was unusual, agreed to pay half of the £120 bill because the Fallons were unwilling to stay in the house at Basingstoke Road, Peterlee.

While the decision to used taxpayers' money has been criticised, Sabrina, 23, who has lived in the house with husband Martin, 24, and daughters Shannon, nine, and Amie, 16 months, since June, says they now love their home and have had no further trouble.

She added: "It's not a waste of money because the council were in there and witnessed what happened.

"It was like ice even with the heating on. It was dull no matter how bright the lights were and there was a horrid smell.

"It was like living in a mortuary."

Sabrina first called in police when the banging began in the loft.
Although sceptical, she contacted the house-cleansing ghosthunter for help.

Ms Hadwin said she sent her Russian spirit guide Romanoff to neutralise the energy in the house before visiting herself and using angels to help rid it of evil.

She believes the bad spirit was connected to the murder of a woman killed with a poker and says the family is now happy to stay in the house, which is rented from East Durham Homes.

The 35-year-old, previously of Seaham and Witherwack, Sunderland, said council staff agreed there was a bad atmosphere at the property and were there as she worked.

She defended the use of public funds to pay for her services and said: "They could get me in or be homeless. They weren't going to go in that house any more.

"In some cases, people don't believe it until they've been in that atmosphere and had a poltergeist on top of them, and that's why the council brought me in."

Other incidents before Ms Hadwin's visit included a dressing gown flying down the stairs at a family member who was checking on the house while the Fallons were on holiday.

Sabrina also reported feeling like someone was trying to take her child from her as she walked down the steps.

Mark Wallace, campaign director of the Taxpayers' Alliance, described the move to use public cash as a "ridiculous waste of money".

He added: "People don't pay their council tax for it to be spent on psychic mumbo-jumbo.

"What next, will the council be investing in magic beans next year?"

A council spokeswoman said the authority would have faced a £40 charge per night in emergency accommodation for the family if issue had not been resolved.

She added: "This is the first time we have had to take such a measure, however, the tenants were extremely distressed at the time and we therefore believed it was the most appropriate course of action.

"The family were pleased with the outcome and the advice and assistance they received from the council and are now happy to remain in their home.

"The council is committed to preventing homelessness, no matter what the cause.

"Last year we helped more than 130 people avoid the distress and financial costs of losing their homes through a range of interventions, albeit none of them quite as unusual as this."