PUNTERS at a historic pub loved by celebrities fear it is being haunted from beyond the grave by a formidable former landlady.
Spooky goings-on have raised the alert at the Fleece Inn in Bretforton, Worcestershire, which has been visited by stars including pop singer Taylor Swift and designer Stella McCartney.
Now there have been suggestions ex-landlady Lola Taplin is haunting the 550-year-old boozer almost half a century after her death – punishing the place for breaking her strict rules.
It has even been claimed that Lola – who refused to serve drinkers while her favourite soap Coronation Street was on – has come back to keep watch in the form of an owl.
She died aged 83 back in 1977 while sitting in front of the fire in the pub she had called home all her life.
But locals say Lola – whose firm rules included banning bar snacks to stop greasy fingers smearing the furnishings and barring groups – remains somehow in charge.
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Current landlord Nigel Smith says there has been an increase in plates, glasses and food being mysteriously hurled at workers and visitors.
The National Trust-owned pub previously suffered a damaging fire in 2004 – just days after a barmaid broke a superstition not to move Lola's shoes from inside an old cockfighting box.
Mr Smith, 59. has brushed aside scepticism about the latest unlikely claims.
He said: "I didn't believe in the supernatural when I came here 20 years ago – I did A-levels in science and I'm firmly rooted in fact.
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"But so many things have happened which you just can't explain. Now I'm convinced it's Lola.
“Her shoes are meant to be left alone. One of my staff got them out and within 30 seconds a saucer flew off the coffee machine across the room.
“That was Lola being disgruntled.
“There’s lots of poltergeist activity – things flying off shelves. If there’s something she’s not happy with, she’ll show her displeasure.
“I might be the landlord but Lola’s the one still in charge.
“To be honest, it gives me a bit of hope that there’s more to come when we shuffle off.
“I’m not frightened of it. It’s the living you’ve got to be scared of, not the dead.”
Lola's death saw the Fleece Inn bequeathed to the National Trust.
Visitors to the 15th-century pub include musicians Toyah Wilcox and Julian Lloyd-Webber as well as the late actor Robbie Coltrane and presenter Sir Terry Wogan, who died in 2016.
Taylor and then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn – who are believed to have broken up in recent weeks – stopped by when staying with Stella McCartney at her nearby Worcestershire farmhouse.
Mr Smith says Swift has popped in "multiple times".
I might be the landlord but Lola's the one still in charge.
The pub with uneven floors and low doorways also has "witch circles" to prevent unwanted visitors entering down the chimneys.
And cracks in the stone paving flags are painted to stop evil spirits getting through.
Mr Smith said: “It’s all part of the charm of the place.
“One of the locals said to me, 'The circles might stop witches coming down the chimney, but they don’t stop my wife coming through the door.'
He went on to say of Lola: “She was a formidable woman who took no nonsense.
“She used to watch Coronation Street avidly. If you wanted a drink, you just had to wait.
“She wouldn’t put big fires on to keep the place warm because it was too expensive.
“And she was really houseproud so wouldn’t dare move a chair or a table.
“The legend is that she told people she would be reincarnated as an owl to haunt the pub.
“We have ghost-hunters every month asking to come in but it’s something I will never do.
“Lola’s ghost is leaving us alone, so we will leave her alone.”
Mr Smith and the pub previously set what he believed to be a record for the largest gathering of people called Nigel in one place – 492.
The Fleece Inn has competition, however, for the title of Britain's most-haunted pub.
Other contenders include the 16th-century Eclipse Inn in Winchester, Hampshire – where staff told of high-end gin stoppers mysteriously popping off and shots of jager actually flying off the shelves.
Later last year the landlord of the Ring O’ Bells in Kendal, Cumbria,claimed a resident ghost there – said to be a 17-year-old boy who drowned nearby -pushed a pint glass off a table.
Another pub supposedly "haunted" by a drink-smashing ghost is the the Longs Arms in South Wraxall, Wiltshire.
Lola's is not even the only Fleece Arms pub claimed to be "haunted".
Another venue of the same name – this one in Elland, West Yorkshire – has even featured on the TV show Most Haunted, with presenter Yvette Fielding.
Alleged ghosts terrorising the pub have included that of a young girl, as well as a shepherd who lived there hundreds of years ago and allegedly trashed the storeroom.
Also said to be "haunting" the place are a woman named Sarah impregnated and murdered by her father in the 17th century plus a young motorcyclist who died in an accident in the 1970s.
Fielding has also claimed the current Manchester set of Lola's favourite Coronation Street is also haunted, insisting the ghost of a woman wearing an RAF uniform has been spotted.
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