The Beast of Battersea: It was a malign spirit said to have tormented the Hitchings family for 12 years - shredding curtains and setting fire to beds. But as a new BBC series reveals, everything changed when an amateur ghost-hunter took up the case
Shirley Hitchings was haunted by poltergeist in Battersea, south London home
The 12-year campaign of terror by Donald left her a prisoner in her own home
Haunting finally ended in 1968 with the family never discovering why it happened to them
Shirley story can now be heard in a new BBC Sounds/Radio 4 podcast series
BBC Radio 4 podcast The Battersea Poltergeist explores a real-life ghost story
In 1956, the Hitchings family of south London reported strange goings-on
Unexplained bangs and scratches were heard, and object moved on their own
Strange markings on the wall and a note from Donald the ghost were found
At the centre was their teenage daughter Shirley, who appeared most affected