Quake shocks undertaker (From Stroud News and Journal)

Quake shocks undertaker

UNDERTAKER Joe King, from Cainscross Road, suspected a more sinister cause when his furniture began shaking during the earthquake which hit Stroud on Sunday.

As a cup fell to the floor and smashed, Mr King was convinced he was witnessing a visitation from 'the other side.'

"I thought it was a poltergeist," he said.

"The dressing table and mirror started to vibrate and then 'smash!', over went the cup. "It was enough to wake the dead."

It wasn't until the following morning Mr King realised he had not witnessed the supernatural after all.

After hearing about the quake which measured 4.8 on the Richter scale on the breakfast news, Mr King said: "I hope tonight I hope to rest in peace."

Emergency services were on alert in the early hours of Monday morning as more than a hundred worried residents from the Five Valleys jammed the switchboards asking why their homes were shaking.

Many thought cars had driven into their homes or that they were being burgled. Damage in Gloucestershire was limited as the main epicentre of the quake focused between Dudley and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands.