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A mysterious hidden door welded shut behind a fake wall in a 'haunted' building has been opened for the first time.

Marie and Steve Wesson, owners of Nottingham's Haunted Museum , discovered the venue's only metal door under a layer of plasterboard when they acquired the old Mapperley picturehouse last year.

It was sealed shut in an emergency exit chute with plugs and electrics fitted over it, and sinister rumours circulated about its past.

Marie and Steve, scared of what they might find behind it, have left it locked for more than a year, Nottinghamshire Live reports.

But on Thursday, along with a group of seven paranormal enthusiasts, they finally cracked it open.

Inside, Marie claims they found a five-pointed pentagram star made from charcoal, a grubby old teddy bear and a collection of white candles burnt to their stubs.

It was a shock to the 44-year-old, who'd just expected to find a brick wall on the other side of the door.

(Image: nottinghampost.com)

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," says Marie, who recreated a ghostly groping for an American TV show.

"We're paranormal investigators not satanists so were are going to have to get on it to find out as much as we can about it."

She's convinced however, that spooky things have already been going on.

"During investigations [at the museum, recently ranked the 29th most haunted place in the UK by supernatural website higgypop.com], we've had voice recordings of someone saying 'don't open the door' and 'don't open the door' with a sinister laugh after.

"It put me off [opening it]," says Marie, who also claims to have heard scratching coming from inside the sealed room on numerous occasions.

(Image: nottinghampost.com)

Now opened, staff will be putting a Perspex sheet across the doorway so visitors can see but not touch the creepy findings.

"Since we've opened it, a few people have complained of having headaches .

"My daughter, who never gets headaches, got a really bad pressure behind her eyes," says Marie, who isn't bothered by sceptics or non-believers.

She says: "Everyone has their own opinions and beliefs. If we all thought the same it'd be boring."

Tours of the Haunted Museum run Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 6pm and Sundays 1pm to 6pm, tickets are £7 per person and all children must be accompanied by an adult.