This eerie photograph is thought to show the ghostly apparition of a man dubbed 'The Watcher' photobombing a tourist at the Edinburgh vaults.

Emma Surgenor and her sister Lauren were given a fright when they looked back at their pictures from a tour of the 'haunted' Scottish tourist attraction.

In one, what appears to be the 18th century ghost is seen ominously standing behind Lauren.

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This eerie photograph is thought to show the ghostly apparition of a man dubbed 'The Watcher' (circled) photobombing a tourist at the Edinburgh vaults. It was taken by Emma Surgenor, whose sister Lauren is right

Emma, 32, a support worker from Blackpool, said no one other than her sister was in front of her in the pitch black vault at that time.

She said: 'We took loads of pictures and some of them came up pitch black and some came through. We went through all the photos on my digital camera that evening and lightened up the pictures that came back black.

'To our shock this figure which looks like a man appeared in one of them. We got a chill sensation and just screamed "oh my god".

'It was a creepy moment. My sister was petrified. She was going on about how he was standing right behind her. Then she thought it was pretty cool. It's pretty scary stuff. There was no one else there.'

The 'spectral figure' that photobombed Emma's picture is standing directly behind her sister wearing what appears to be a long coat and boots. She believes it may be a ghost known as 'The Watcher' or 'Mr Boots'.

Emma said: 'There are a lot of stories about a man down there who wears big boots and a coat and another called "The Watcher" with long hair and 18th century clothing. It's weird that my sister was standing there behind him. She was pretty creeped out at first.'

Eerie: The 'spectral figure' which photobombed Emma's picture is stood behind her sister wearing what looks like a long coat and boots. The original photo the 32-year-old took is left, and a lightened version right

The Edinburgh vaults are a series of chambers formed in the arches of the South Bridge, which were completed in 1788.

For around 30 years, the vaults were used to house tradesmen, and as a storage facility for illicit material, reportedly including the bodies of people killed by serial killers Burke and Hare for medical experiments.

As the conditions in the vaults deteriorated, due to damp and poor air quality, the businesses left and the poorest of Edinburgh's citizens moved in. But by around 1820 even they are believed to have left, too.

That people had lived there was only discovered in 1985 during an excavation when toys, medicine bottles, plates, and other signs of human habitation were found.

It was a creepy moment. My sister was petrified. She was going on about how he was standing right behind her Emma Surgenor

Due to frequent reports of paranormal activity and ghost sightings, the Edinburgh vaults were featured on Living TV's Most Haunted. The vaults were monitored in both a 24-hour investigation and for a Most Haunted Live show on Halloween 2006, in which Scottish Investigator Ryan O'Neill took part.

Another television programme, Ghost Adventures, also filmed a show in the vaults and claimed to have experienced numerous encounters with spirits.

The Watcher or Mr Boots has apparently been seen by hundreds of visitors, with some reports describing him as tall with no eyes, a full beard, a long coat and big thigh-high boots.

Others suggest he watches visitors from the corridor and can be protective of the wall in one of the smaller vaults, sometimes shouting 'get out,' when people go near it.

Emma added: 'I have been down there a few times in the past and got another picture last year of a hand behind this guy. It was pretty creepy down there. This time I didn't feel creeped out. There was no chill feeling when I took it or anything like that.

'I have another picture taken two seconds before and after where my sister isn't in the doorway and from the same angle and there is nothing there.