Surrey - (Hexoplasm): The classic cliche of a headless monk was blamed today as workmen downed tools in an amusement park makeover.
Management at Thorpe Park even brought in self-styled 'ghostbusters' to exorcise a new ride following reports that an ancient burial ground may have been disturbed.
"It's your navvies that are 'disturbed', not the sodding ground," local amateur archaeologist Wilfrid Pomander insisted as an array of ghost hunting equipment arrived on site.
The amusement park had been preparing the foundations for the forthcoming 4ft high water ride the Storm Surge Ghost Train.
Plans submitted to the local council show the ride was to have been located on the old Monk's Walk - an ancient footpath that has linked Chertsey Abbey ruins to Thorpe Church 'since AD 666'.
Some residents suspect that feeble-brained park diggers seized on the '666' part of local lore and invented paranormal sightings 'for a bit of a lark, ha ha'.
Previous excavations of the area had yielded ancient graves - typical of a location so close to church cemeteries and medieval burial grounds everywhere.
"It's a scam, alright!" a management source admitted this morning.
"Headless monks are not threatening to destroy Thorpe Park's fantastic new ride."
An exorcism scheduled for tomorrow may now be cancelled.
