A ghostly apparition has spooked regular customers at a Frome pub after a picture taken on a mobile phone captured a 'spirit' standing behind them during a night out.

The friends were at the Packhorse, in Christchurch Street West, Frome, earlier this month, when one of the men in the group became convinced that a man was standing behind them when they were out in the beer garden.

The customer, who did not wish to be named, told his friend Larraine Creighton, who was with him at the time that the apparition had spoken to him and that he had a picture of it.

The picture shows what could be an American Civil War union soldier, with a musket in his hands and a tobacco pouch attached to his belt, leaning on his thigh.

Mrs Creighton said she brushed off the weird conversation until she saw the picture the following day. She said: "My friend started acting strangely when we were in the beer garden and I knew something was wrong, but it wasn't until I saw the picture that I realised exactly what had happened.

"I couldn't sleep that night – it completely freaked me out.

"My friend told me that he regularly sees things at the pub but this was the first time he had captured it on camera.

"There are a lot of non-believers out there but I don't care what anyone says – it is the genuine article."

And it was a bit of a shock for landlord and landlady at the pub, Jason Rowlson and Alison Johnson, who told the Somerset Standard they have experienced unexplained events at the pub since they took a year ago.

Miss Johnson said: "There is a door to a room in the pub that slams behind me every time I go in and then I can't open it again for a few minutes. But it never happens to Jason or anyone else."

Other strange goings on include items flying off ledges in the bar, doors slamming and notice boards flying off the wall.

Frome's resident ghost-hunter, Nick Thurston, who runs CASPER UK, which investigates paranormal events, said he believes the picture to be genuine.

He said: "Having reviewed the image I can advise, in my honest opinion, that it does indeed resemble a figure of a human of what appears to be a soldier possibly from the early 19th or 18th century, potentially from the American Civil War. The image appears to be that of a male holding a rifle and is transparent, which would be stereotypical of a full manifestation.

"This is a fantastic photograph, beyond any doubt, but it's not very often you see photographs this clear.

"From a sceptical viewpoint with modern technology such as Photoshop, photographs can be doctored but as this has been taken with a mobile camera I am sure this is not the case. But I would need to do more research before coming to any conclusion. I would be interested in performing at least one or more overnight paranormal investigations with my group and seeing what evidence we pick up using our vast array of ghost-hunting equipment, in conjunction with the use of our mediums and sensitives in the group to see if we can replicate this activity."