Developer Crest Nicholson has condemned a self-styled “ghost whisperer” for repeatedly entering the former Treloar hospital and college site in Alton. 

The last remaining building of the old Treloar hospital, Robertson House, is due to be demolished in the coming months having been left derelict since 2001.

However, the building has attracted uninvited ‘paranormal investigators’ in recent years, and a video of a recent visit posted online to TikTok by ‘ghost whisperer’ Tony Ferguson has to date been viewed more than 100,000 times.

Mr Ferguson has more than 230,000 followers on TikTok, and was also condemned by the mayor of Alton after entering the derelict hospital and publishing another video online in June last year.

A spokesperson for Crest Nicholson said: “Despite a number of measures in place, these individuals have continued to trespass onto our property. We take this very seriously and the incident has been reported to local police to investigate.”

The so-called ‘ghost whisperer’ claims he encountered “terrifying activity” at the former Lord Mayor Treloar Hospital site, including the sounds of children screaming and footsteps.

In a video posted to TikTok after his third visit in a year to the former hospital site, Mr Ferguson said the construction work at the site had “made the activity heightened” and described Treloar as “one of the most haunted places I have visited”.

He said during their recent visit to the “closed-down asylum”, his group of ghost hunters experienced children screaming, banging noises, footsteps and a male voice swearing at them. Mr Ferguson added paranormal investigator Debbie McAll had a “horrific experience” where a voice whispered in her ear, causing her to freeze in fear.

However, his claims have been debunked by the mayor of Alton, Ginny Boxall, who says “no buildings of the original Treloar hospital building survive” and that Robertson House, which is due to be demolished in coming months, “only ever housed nurses, certainly no children and certainly no mental patients”.

Cllr Boxall added the group’s actions constituted trespassing – a claim denied by Mr Ferguson’s partner Beverley who said Robertson House was “open and not secure”, adding: “We do not break into any buildings”.

But developer Crest Nicholson, which is building 280 homes on the former hospital site backing on to Ackender Woods, insisted the site “is secure from the public”, adding: “The safety of our communities and those working on our sites is our utmost priority”.

The history of Treloar Hospital and College dates back to 1907 when the Lord Mayor of London launched an appeal to build a hospital for disabled children (pictured). Over the years, Treloar’s gradually relocated to Holybourne and its original hospital site closed in 2001. The site was sold to Crest Nicholson in 2017.