The new West Country branch of the British Paranormal Association could be heading for a showdown with the National Trust and English Heritage over some hefty fees being demanded for overnight ghost hunts.Farleigh Hungerford Castle, near Bath, run by English Heritage, wants to charge paranormal investigators £1,300 for a few hours - not even overnight - and the National Trust's Brean Fort, near Weston-super-Mare, about £800.

BPA spokesman for the West Country, Garry Evans of Paulton, North-East Somerset, who is more than a bit miffed, accused the two bodies of attempting to cash in on the growth of paranormal investigation groups.

"I don't think English Heritage and the National Trust are being very fair," he told me. "After all, it's the public's property. Virtually every site where we might like to do something they either come back with some absolutely ridiculous price or fob us off. It took me six months to get a decision on Brean Fort."

As the charging policy affected the whole country, the BPA - set up to champion the smaller and less affluent investigation groups - wanted to make a national statement about it in the hope that fees would be reduced. Groups already carried the costs of public liability insurance. Alex Brannen, spokesman for the NT's Wessex Region, explained that as a charity, the NT had to maximise income-raising opportunities so as to reinvest in the conservation of its properties.

Property managers individually would fix charges according to staff costs, health and safety considerations, security and "conservation values".

And he added: "Some of our smaller houses are too small and the infra-structure too delicate to accommodate this kind of thing."

South West spokeswoman Debbie Holden said that to cover their costs all English Heritage properties charged for outside use.

"Every site is unique, therefore we don't have a standard charge, but certain costs are fixed, such as for staffing and security, across all sites," she But perhaps there could be a compromise over charges for investigations as they can help to increase the number of visitors to these historic buildings.

After all, the National Trust and English Heritage have been getting in on the paranormal act by responding to the rapidly growing interest in ghost-hunting. In the last couple of years, both have published big, glossy books promoting the supernatural aspects of their properties nationwide.

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The BPA has set their newest site up at: http://paranormaltimes.co.uk/ukbpa