Published: Saturday, 20th June, 2009 11:53am

Skeleton secret in Upton Court?

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A PENSIONER in Slough has claimed that the Observer may be hiding a skeleton in its closet.

Herbert Mayo, 80, of Cippenham, called the paper after reading about our paranormal investigations at the offices in Upton Court before revealing that he may have found the remains of a human body in a loft in the 13th century building almost 70 years ago.

The retired factory worker, who has lived in Slough his whole life, claimed that he and his friends discovered the skeleton while exploring the building during the summer holidays when he was around 12 years old.

He said: 'My friends and I were up to mischief and looking for a bit of an adventure but ended up getting the fright of our lives.

'In those days the building stood on open farmland and we noticed that a door was open and it was empty inside. We went inside and two of us ventured up the stairs.

'We ended up in a loft and when we pulled back the curtain, we found the skeleton lying on the floor in an empty room. We were both so shocked that we immediately ran out of the building and never returned.'

The boys reported their finding to a local police officer who said that he would deal with the matter, although they never heard from him again.

Architectural historian and Slough resident, Elias Kupfermann, said that the building was owned by a Mrs EA Tickler in 1940 and sold to the Farmilow family a few years later, around the same time that Mr Mayo and his friends said they ventured in.

It is not known whether the owners were living in the building at the time the boys made their discovery, but Mr Kupfermann said that it would not have been derelict at the time.