Every Tuesday night a church hosts a special kind of meeting - the coming together of the living and the dead. With a sense of scepticism, a reporter Suzy Shanley attended one evening and was surprised by what she witnessed

I have often wondered whether there is life after death but it had never occurred to me to go to Gordon Road in Camberley to find out.

I wonder how many of the residents in that road know that every Tuesday night a whole host of spirits from the 'other side' gather in a church to greet their living relatives.

The Camberley Spiritualist Church plays host to an evening of clairvoyance once a week, when anyone can turn up and hope to hear from someone they have lost.

Judith Shepheard, whose whose husband Peter is the church secretary, explained what Spiritualism involved and invited me along to see a demonstration.

"We are a religious organisation that goes out to prove that there is life after death," she said.

Judith calls herself a "reluctant medium" - she claims to be able to sense and see the spirits of dead people but admits that she is shy of performing in front of crowds.

Not so her star attraction however - Craig and Jane Hamilton-Parker have appeared on Channel 4's Big Breakfast programme and have sold more than 250,000 copies of Craig's books, one of which is titled What To Do When You Are Dead.

The couple have been regular guests at the Camberley Spiritualist Church for years and their presence always ensures a good turn out, both of the living and seemingly of the dead.

With a slight sense of apprehension and a healthy dose of scepticism, I took my seat in the packed church and looked around me to see what sorts of people were attending.

I was fairly surprised to see a wide range of ages and an equal representation of both genders.

Before the 'show' began I turned to talk to my neighbour to see if she really believed in what was about to happen.

"Oh absolutely. I'm very spiritual and a bit psychic," Josanne Bennet informed me. "I'm not into the religion but I like to come and see what goes on.

"I've been contacted by my mother before and I hear people all the time. I can't make out what they're saying. Sometimes I even feel like they're touching me."

With an involuntary shudder, I turned back to watch the Hamilton-Parkers take to the stage and just had time to send a quick, half serious message to anyone I knew on the other side not to make an appearance.

Craig was first up and cut an imposing, if slightly eccentric-looking, figure at the front of the rows of expectant people.

After urging us to respond positively if he came to us, "to hopefully give you some cheerful proof of life", he wasted no time in introducing the first arrival.

"I have a gentleman up here with me who gives the name of Albert," he said and looked out at his audience to spot the first signs of recognition.

"He is a down-to-earth character, not particularly tall and he has strong links with London and with horses."

A few murmurs of recognition began to be heard around the room, only to be quickly ruled out when Craig clarified that Albert's link with horses was actually to do with riding rather than betting.

Eventually, a lady in the audience was singled out as being the most likely contactee, although several of the statements seemed to miss their mark. However, just as I was beginning to doubt Albert's authenticity, another character arrived and Craig announced, hopefully, to the lady that Charles was here and did he mean anything to her?"Yes, Charles was my father and Albert was my uncle," she said.

After imparting some financial advice to his daughter through Craig, Charles and Albert departed and were replaced by a "motherly figure with a connection to the name Mary".

I was startled when the neighbour I had previously chatted to started murmuring in recognition and I felt the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

"My mum was Mary and she was built how you said," Josanne responded.

Craig latched onto my neighbour then and made various mentions of keeping fit (Josanne said she did), spending a lot of money on shopping for clothes (yes, Josanne admitted she did) and then asked id a birthday celebration meant anything.

Josanne turned to her young daughter and confirmed it was her birthday in a few days. As the daughter broke down in tears, Craig passed on her grandmother's love and them turned his attention to someone else.

After half and hour it was Jane's turn and she stepped up with a style remarkably different from her husband's.

While Craig described the spirit he was with and waited for someone to recognise it, Jane would suddenly point an accusatory finger at someone and demand: "Does a mother link mean anything to you?"

As various spirits came and went, offering their love and in one case a plate of roast potatoes, one visit stood out for being particularly poignant.

Jane turned to a lady sitting about half way back in the audience and said: "When I was in the other room preparing I had your mother with me. Was she breathless at the end of her life? She seemed to be very breathless."

The lady replied: "I should think so - she died of a heart attack."

Jane then said: "She is showing me the colour green (that was her favourite colour, the lady confirmed.) Does December mean anything?"

"Yes, she died in December," the lady replied.

"Well your mother is placing her hands on your back now and she wants to give you a bunch of freesias. She's brought them for you."

Afterwards I spoke to this lady and asked her how she felt about her experience.

She said: "My mum died when I was ten years old - this was the first time I've heard from her. I've been coming here for a few months. I think I come because when you have lost someone you are always desperate to see or speak to them again.

"My heart was in my mouth when she came to me. I was shocked but it was also a relief that at last I have something to believe in.

"I've had my father come though before. He died two years ago but I really wanted to hear from my mother. It was lovely - a real comfort. I miss then so much but I need more now - that experience has made me need her more."

As the other spirits came and went during the evening, most were claimed by members of the audience and, despite some descriptions and messages not hitting their marks, most seemed to be startlingly accurate.

I watched both mediums and the audience closely, scrutinising people's faces for signs that might betray parts of their lives and give a hint about who they might be looking for, but to no avail. If it is a trick, it is a very cleaver one and, as Jane forcefully told me at the end of the evening, she does not care about sceptics anyway.

"What we do is true. All I care about is making people feel better," she said. "You are drawn to someone like a magnet and you hear the words that come to you, it just flows, but there is no memory afterwards - as if you have shut yourself down," she explained.

"If someone has suffered a recent loss I see a blue light over their head but they don't come with messages of horror, only ever on a vibration of love."

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