Melbourne's forebears have been given such a hard time by their descendants it's probably no wonder they might hang around in protest.

Take the city's founding father, John Batman, whose memorial has been moved three times, according to ghost researcher Drew Sinton.

Or the carpark at The Queen Victoria Market, which was built over a graveyard.

Melburnians may appear casual about their other-worldly history. But in fact some of the city's best known institutions play host to ghosts, Mr Sinton says.

For six months Mr Sinton has run regular inner-city ghost tours, which take in the State Library, the Melbourne Town Hall and the Princess Theatre - all are allegedly haunted.

The tour's route has been determined by years of painstaking research, Mr Sinton says.

He has gathered information from reported ghost sightings, local anecdotes, old newspapers and documents along with eyewitness accounts. Fascinated by ghosts since he was a child Mr Sinton intends to write a book on the subject.

The ghost at the town hall, for instance, was last seen in 1992, by a young organist who claimed he had repeatedly heard footsteps behind the hall's pipe organ, even though the area was inaccessible.

There are just as many modern buildings which apparitions or presences call home, according to Mr Sinton and his ghost tour partner, a clairvoyant.

The clairvoyant often accompanies the tours, to help foster ghostly experiences. She says the trick is to abandon left brain reasoning, which controls logic, and tap into the intuitive, right side of the brain. The results have at times been astounding, she says.

Mr Sinton says he has had people "run screaming" from different locations and he also claims there have been sightings of ghosts on recent tours.

While the tour is a magnet for believers, it also attracts a fair number of sceptics. But Mr Sinton, a self-described occultist who also runs a specialist ghost bookshop in the city, refuses to argue for or against the existence of ghosts or the reported sightings.

"I don't enter into theological debates with anyone because it brings down the tone of the tour," he said.

Mr Sinton's tours run weekly. For details call 9670 2585.

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