Sinister growling has once again been heard at an abandoned church tower in Thundridge, near Ware, which has legends of ghostly goings on and devil worship.

A week after another report of the unexplained sound, Hoddesdon pensioners Ann and Leonard Crump heard the "menacing" noise, which they claim was a warning to stay away from the site, off Cold Christmas Lane.

Legend has it the circa 1100 tower's unorthodox alignment caused tragedy and bad luck for the village in days gone by.

Today (Thursday) Most Haunted fan Ann, 63, of Crossfield Road, told the Herald: "We went along there yesterday my husband and myself, I'm in my 60s and he's in his 70s. I do believe in things but I put it in my mind to be sceptical.

"It was around about 12.30pm, he was taking photos from the outside and I walked around the outside to the hole in the wall, I put my hand on the wall to put my head inside and I heard this awful groan. It was a cross between a groan and a growl. It was a horrible menacing growl, as if to say 'don't get near'."

She added that husband Leonard, 75, climbed into the tower and she joined him inside.

She said: "We were just talking about how small it was in there and saw this pretty little dog but it wasn't the dog that growled."

As the couple were talking in the tower another group of people arrived to explore it, but screamed and were scared off by Ann and Leonard's voices inside.

Reflecting on her encounter Ann said: "I had been spooked about what had happened to me, it frightened me there's something there, there's something strange there. I've never heard anything like this horrible menacing noise."

She added: "We're not fantasists."

Last week we reported how Cambridge couple Robert Gough and Rebecca Thorburn fled the tower in terror after also hearing the "groaning noise".

Robert said: "To this day I have no idea what it was, it could have been kids messing about, or an animal, or something else!"

The rest of the church was demolished in 1853 amid fears that it faced the wrong way. All that was left was the tower jutting up from the surrounding woodland. The material was used in the restoration of Sacomb Church.