A mother has shared pictures of a ghostly 'gatekeeper and raven' waiting to take her father to the afterlife just hours before he died.

Sharron Coll took the photos while looking after her father Roy Crank on his death bed at a hospice near Doncaster, Yorkshire, when he lost his battle to bowel cancer aged 67.

The two images, taken in a hospice just hours before Mr Crank passed away, appear show a dark shadowy figure leaning over a book and a raven or crow perched on a wheelchair indoors.

Mother-of-six Mrs Coll was originally scared because her brother said the figure looked like the 'grim reaper', however over the years she has come to see the figure and bird as gatekeepers waiting to help her father after he died.

Sharron Coll said she captured a ghostly figure, pictured, on camera in the corridor of the hospice where her father died

Mrs Coll said she also caught a 'raven' in her images, pictured, and believes the figure and the bird were 'gatekeepers' there to take her father to the afterlife

The mother-of-six, pictured, said the pictures were taken hours before her father Roy Crank's death and she initially feared the figure was 'the grim reaper'

Mrs Coll said she wanted to share the images to show people their lost loved ones 'have someone waiting on the other side'. Pictured are Ms Coll and her father on her wedding day

The 43-year-old is now sharing the deeply personal pictures from 2013 so that others who are worried about their lost loved ones can see they 'may have had someone waiting for them on the other side'.

Mrs Coll, who now lives near Chippenham, Wiltshire, said: 'This pictures are very personal to me and have provided a lot of comfort to me since losing my dad.

'Apparently crows and ravens are supposed to be a sign of death.

'But there were no crows in there - it was a hospice. There was nothing there apart from the wheelchair.

'I was looking after my dad in the hospice and it was odd because he kept pointing outside.

'He couldn't speak properly towards the end so couldn't explain what he was pointing at, but he was terrified. I thought it was just his medication.

'I had just nipped to the loo but it was then that I saw the figure. I was a bit scared. It took me a while to get my head around that.

'I saw it and it shook me up a bit to be honest. I found it a bit unsettling but I still took a photograph.

Mr Crank, pictured in the Doncaster hospice with his daughter, died of bowel cancer in 2013

The mother-of-six, pictured left with her father on her wedding day and right with children Larisa and Evan, said she has seen spirits since she was five

'However I couldn't see the bird then so I went back in the room. My dad passed away just a couple of hours later.

'I didn't notice the crow until I looked back on the photos.

'At the time I showed it to my brother when we came out of the hospice and I was a bit worried because he said it looked a bit like the grim reaper.

'I asked him if he thought dad had gone to heaven and showed him the picture. He just said "what is that?". He was shocked.

'I've seen spirits since I was five years old. But that did scare me a bit, and it's not until I looked at it properly that I saw it looked like he is praying over some kind of book. It looks like a monk not a grim reaper, which was a relief.

'However I do now find comfort in the pictures. Now I think he is a gatekeeper because when I noticed the crow or raven, I know they are a sign of death. They are like gatekeepers too, a spiritual animal.

Mrs Coll, pictured right with her father, said she finds 'comfort' in the photos but added her father, left with granddaughter Masie, did not believe in spirits

'So now I have to keep thinking that it's a gatekeeper coming to take my dad, to pass him over to a positive place.

'When I look at it now it makes me smile, to know that somebody was waiting for him to take him over.'

Mr Crank kept the fact he was battling bowel cancer a secret at first but eventually told family members and Mrs Coll said she is thankful that he did not suffer for long, dying just three months after his diagnosis.

However before his death Mr Crank had not believed in anything to do with spirits or ghosts, despite Mrs Coll capturing things on camera before.

Mrs Coll, who works in security, said: 'I used to see these things and tell my dad but he used to say "don't be so bloody stupid, there's no such thing" and he never ever took me seriously.

'But then cameras on phones came out and I could capture stuff that I saw and I could show them to him. But he'd say "hmm, put it away".

'Because of my job I am often in derelict, really, really old places, sometimes rural, and I can go off on my own and take photographs of things I see in there.

Mrs Coll, pictured holding her father's hand on his deathbed in the hospice

'I see some people post pictures and I look at them and I'm really sceptic. Even though I can see it in the photo myself in their photo. But this is different as I took these pictures.

'I don't tell too many people about when I see things like this as I wouldn't want people thinking I'm anything other than just a normal mum.'

However now Mrs Coll is sharing her very personal pictures in the hope that she might be able to share some of the comfort that she has found in it.

The mother, whose six children are aged between 11 and 26, said: 'The pictures might provide comfort to others who lose loved ones as they could be reassuring to see that there might be someone waiting for them in the afterlife.

'That's why I shared them online - as I hoped they might provide comfort for some. But people can make their own minds up when they see them.'