A father's ghost story became spookier than he expected when he took his young son for a walk in a church

When 10-year-old Patrick Ferenc found a plastic sword stuck in the ground of an 800-year-old graveyard, his father Aladar, joking told the lad he might have disturbed the ghosts.

But it was dad Aladar who got the biggest shock minutes later.

Mr Ferenc and his son had been out on what they thought was a pleasant summers day walk at St Mary the Virgin Church, in Marholm, near Bretton.

As they walked past gravestones, Patrick pulled out the ornate plastic sword that was stuck on one of the gravestones.

And Mr Ferenc jokingly told his son he should not have done that as "the ghosts will be after you".

Mr Ferenc, from Bretton, said: "I only said it as a joke, and neither of us thought anything more of it, and went to have a walk in the forest nearby."

But when they returned a little later, a huge branch had fallen off a large tree in the graveyard, crushing the tombstone.

Mr Ferenc said: "We couldn't believe it.

"I had only been joking about the ghosts coming after Patrick, but when we saw what had happened we were not so sure."

The church was built more than 800 years ago, and some of the gravestones have been in place for centuries.

Mr Ferenc said: "I still don't believe that there are ghosts but, to be on the safe side, I made sure Patrick apologised to the 'ghost,' and definitely told him to put the sword back.

"He was not sure whether to say sorry in English or Slovakian, but I told him that it would probably be better to say it in English to make sure he understands!"

Despite the ghostly goings on, Mr Ferenc said he would still be happy to go back to the church.

He said: "It is such a beautiful spot that I will definitely go back.

"Patrick said he will also go again – but only if I go with him. And I don't think we will be moving anything else around when we go back."

A spokesperson for St Mary the Virgin Church said: "These things just happen. Branches often split down the middle and fall off trees. There have never been any funny goings on here before but if you look for them they can happen.

"I believe in ghosts but there have not been any reported sightings of ghosts at the church or in its grounds – it's not one of those places that has a grey lady walking around."

The article above was found on Google and was published originally on Peterborough Today