When William Graves bought his Sheffield home back in 2004 he took a friend to boast of his exciting new venture in life, when the pair arrived at the property the friend was shocked to see what appeared to be a ghostly female figure standing in the upstairs bay window.

Since this first spooky experience 19 years ago, Mr Graves decided to write a book about the haunting goings on experienced within the home and gardens.

The special part about the production of this book is that he decided to donate the money raised from the sales to a local Sheffield Cancer Charity, Cavendish Cancer Care who supported his mother in her battle and recovery from the illness.

Mr Graves has documented many of his own experiences including, shadows appearing under doors, hearing voices and talking from parts of his empty home and uncovering knives “embedded in the floor, about two inches deep”.

The book, ‘The Woman in the Bay Window’ is close to collection £20,000 in the sale of more than 5,000 books.

His mother, who supported him in editing the book, had been diagnosed with breast cancer and he knew that he wanted to donate the money raised to Cavendish Cancer Care, who helped her in such a difficult time.

Hayley Reynolds, from the charity, said: “It’s such an incredible amount and it will help hundreds more people in our region who are struggling with the effects of cancer.”