28409/1ONE of the country's youngest spiritual ministers believes Trowbridge is a hotbed for mystical activity.

The Rev Shane Adams, 28, said hundreds of ghosts haunt Wiltshire's county town making it more spiritually significant than renowned sites like Avebury and Stonehenge.

Mr Adams, who works as a spiritual minister in Trowbridge, said a mass of ley lines, or energy lines, converging at Hilperton means the area is awash with spirits, and once used as a Pagan burial ground.

"For spiritual activity Trowbridge is a major power point," he said.

"We have a convergence of up to 12 energy lines with Trowbridge at the centre.

"If you go into The Shires, it is packed with spirits. In Fore Street there is a soldier stood in one of the game shops.

"If you pre-date the history of Trowbridge, Hilperton was a very important spiritual site for the Pagans. It was a Pagan burial site and area of worship because of the existence of these lines."

Introduced to the spiritual world in his teenage years, Mr Adams set out to further his skills.

Joining the Universal Life Church, based in California, two years ago he now performs everything from vampire marriages to gay blessings.

Mr Adams believes he could be one of the youngest trans- mediums in the country.

"I have spoken to spirits since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I had a Zulu warrior who would take me all over the place as a spirit guide," he said.

"Basically I leave my body and the spirits jump in and use it.

"The reason why I became a reverend is it gives you more dignity.

"I am spiritual, not psychic. I talk to the spirits as I would do to anyone else."

A increasing demand for

ghostbusting sessions, or house blessings, has been triggered by a rising national fascination

with the spiritual world.

But Mr Adams said money- hungry frauds and a bad press had only sought to rubbish his image and give credence to doubters.

He said: "There are a lot of frauds about, who are only out to line their own pocket. It upsets me because it is tarnishing us all with the same brush."

With the help of his fiance Sarah, Mr Adams runs a series of psychic fairs, and holds a spiritual development church once a month.

The couple have raised hundreds of pounds for charities, including the NSPCC and Childline, with the next charity medium evening scheduled for Bridge House on July 1, from 6.30pm.