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Innovative local actor - and bus conductor - Ben Whitehead helps Shannon Denny see London in a spooky new light

Ben Whitehead is obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. Refusing to let one of London's most recognisable and now dearly departed icons go quietly to its grave, he resurrected a Routemaster to convey cargos of passengers around the city's shadowy streets. Three nights a week, the creepy conductor reveals the horrific tales hidden away in the dark corners of the capital's history.

It's all part of Ben's macabre brainchild, Ghost Bus Tours, which is easily the most thrilling and chilling way to learn about London. "What we've got is a piece of theatre combined with a sightseeing tour," he explains when I catch up with him in the cold light of day. When he's not scaring people silly, he lives in Southwark and is a voiceover actor. (He's played the voice of Wallace, the benign owner of Gromit.)

Tourism and south London have themselves played roles in Ben's career since the start. "My first job out of university was in the Museum of the Moving Image on the Southbank - lovely old place, closed down now. That was a fantastic little job; you're in character telling people about either Russian cinema or Hollywood of the 1930s. It was great fun, and that kind of got me working in London as almost like a guide." From there he started guiding bus tours, and went on to record an audio tour of London that's still in circulation today.

Ben then made his way to another essential stop on the south London tourist circuit, the London Dungeon, which satisfied his predilection for the unpleasant. "You had to be a torturer one minute, a plague doctor the next, a judge, someone in the Great Fire of London. The best part was Jack the Ripper," he affirms.

"You learn a lot, you're given audience after audience to work with very quickly, but it did give you a chance to try loads of things out. You could experiment a lot and find what unsettles people."

Which, of course, sits quite nicely with his new job as the scariest ticket-taker in all of London's transport system. From its own designated bus stop just off Trafalgar Square, the Ghost Bus follows a route that uncovers the sinister secrets behind familiar buildings and landmarks. Haunted palaces, execution sites and unmarked burial grounds appear on the ghastly itinerary which starts in Lambeth before taking in the City to Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Southwark and ending in Waterloo.

"I think I've got to thank my mum for my interest in the dark and sinister," he laughs. "My mum was always one to point out, 'Ooh, they burnt a witch there, or that's where this ghost threw something out the window' or whatever."

If this were a traditional tour, guests would get facts and sights, with maybe a bit of banter thrown in. But as this is a sort of mobile theatre, get ready for an elaborate plot and setting with a full cast. The story Ben has created is this: the Necropolis Bus Company began in the 19th century as a private funeral bus service. These 'carcass coaches' conveyed the deceased, pall bearers and up to 50 mourners to the final resting place. Each bus had an onboard conductor and a special siren or 'mourning whistle' to warn pedestrians of the bus's approach. The Ghost Bus - which Ben bought on Ebay - is painted midnight black, and the seating has been overhauled in railway style so that 'mourners' can console each other.

While he can lead you on a tour all around London - scattering tales of corpses and apparitions in his wake - Ben's own preferred haunts are all within a mile of his home. When it comes to pubs, clubs and restaurants, he appreciates places that offer an element of drama. Favourites include The Gladstone on Lant Street for live bands, kitsch South London Pacific in Kennington, and Meson Don Felipe on The Cut with its live flamenco music. "The other thing living round here is you do get a chance to go to the theatre quite a lot. The Union Theatre, the Pacific Playhouse, the Southwark Playhouse - we've got a really good choice of venues."

While he's happy to be in the audience of these local theatres, the 'haunted' Routemaster is this actor's favoured stage for now. "Scaring people on a double-decker bus around London - I know that when I'm an old man and I look back I'll think that was time well spent."

www.theghostbustours.com

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