No corner of the capital is without its share of spooky tales about ghosts and ghouls taunting Londoners.
But the East End is an area particularly notorious for supernatural stories frightening enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine.
Tales of haunted forests, pubs, and dim-lit streets make Eastenders think twice about roaming the old patch of Jack the Ripper.
One café though – just a walk away from the foggy late-night streets of Whitechapel where the Ripper committed his heinous crimes – is so haunted that staff refuse to work alone.
Pret A Manger at 121 Bethnal Green Road is home to so many spooky stories that it cannot be just a coincidence.
Ginger Rivas, the café’s 28-year-old assistant manager, has been unlucky enough to have been left fearful on more than one late shift – and she’s now convinced her workplace is haunted.
One dingy autumn evening in 2022, Ginger recalls being spooked while closing up the café with a colleague.
She said: ‘My colleague and I were working in the basement where the kitchen is, when I noticed the CCTV screens start flashing up.
‘I went into the office to take a look and my colleague rushed in and asked me, “did you hear that?”
‘We went back into the basement and we could hear light footsteps upstairs – like a woman was tip-toeing – but there was no one on the footage.’
If that wasn’t enough of a fright, the same thing happened the following evening.
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She continued: ‘The very next day it happened again – two days in a row!
‘CCTV was moving and blinking. I didn’t want to go in the basement anymore. After that, I stopped working the closing shifts.
‘I am never closing the shop again because I know what it’s like to feel like someone or something is around you. Especially houses in London, a lot of them are old and could be haunted.’
And mysterious activity in the impressive old building didn’t stop there. Just last week, Ginger heard scratching at the back door during an early morning stint in her basement office.
‘It was four o’clock in the morning and I was like – not again!
‘It sounded like someone was clawing to get inside. It was the kind of high-pitched sound which really makes you cringe, like sharp nails on metal.
‘Since then, I’ve been waiting for my colleague outside to go in with him. I was like, there’s no way I’m going to go in until someone is here to go with me,’ she said.
Staff are so sick of the paranormal activity, they brought in an Ouija board two years ago to find out what the ghosts wanted.
But sadly it led to more questions than answers.
Ginger said: ‘It spelt out “I feel presence”, but we are not sure what this means, or why a ghost would say this.’
The Bethnal Green Pret isn’t the only café where Ginger has been spooked by the extraordinary, though.
She explained: ‘At the last Pret I worked at, not far from here, I think that place was haunted too.
‘During night shifts I was doing production with another team member and listening to music to try and stay awake.
‘Lights started flashing on and off in the corridor. I swear this stuff keeps happening to me.’
Perhaps it’s the ghosts of the Ripper’s victims taunting Ginger and her colleagues, or could it be a mere coincidence?
Either way, next time you grab an evening brew at the East End Pret, don’t stay too late.
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