A chilling tale of a hitchhiker who allegedly vanished from the passenger seat of a moving car in a Nantwich village has emerged as Halloween approaches.

The bizarre story was shared by Paranormal Files UK and is said to have taken place on the A51 near Wybunbury on Sunday 20 October, 1996.

According to the account, a motorist named Trevor Madline, from Derby, was driving along the road when he spotted a man hitchhiking at the roadside.

He stopped and offered the stranger a lift.

The man was reportedly wearing old-fashioned motorcycle leathers, giving him the appearance of a motorcyclist from an earlier era.

He climbed into the car, closed the passenger door and fastened his seatbelt.

But shortly into the journey, Trevor reportedly discovered his passenger had disappeared.

There had apparently been no stop and, according to the account, the passenger door had not been opened.

Even more strangely, the man's seatbelt was reportedly still fastened across the now-empty passenger seat.

The story has become part of the folklore surrounding the A51 and Wybunbury, although there is no established evidence to prove the alleged supernatural encounter took place.

Wybunbury itself has a history stretching back centuries and was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.

The village is perhaps best known for the leaning tower of St Chad's Church, which has stood above the surrounding Cheshire landscape for generations.

The roads around Wybunbury also have a long history, with routes through the area predating the arrival of motor vehicles.

During the 18th century, roads forming important links between London and Chester were developed as turnpike routes, meaning travellers on foot, horseback and in coaches would have passed through the area long before the A51 became a modern road.

The 'vanishing hitchhiker' is a familiar theme in paranormal folklore, with similar tales reported in locations around the world.

Whether the Wybunbury story is a genuine unexplained encounter or simply a spooky piece of local folklore remains unknown.

With Halloween just around the corner, it certainly makes for an eerie tale from one of Nantwich's nearby villages.