HAVE you ever been alone in a room, but somehow have the feeling someone - or something - is there with you? According to psychic medium Shaun Dennis, who arrives in High Wycombe next week, you might just be experiencing "contact with the other side".

Shaun, who has just embarked on his first UK tour, claims more and more people over the past few years are reporting seeing apparitions and the spirit world is actually "drawing closer".

Speaking ahead of his visit to Wycombe Town Hall next Friday, Shaun explains: "I have found in the past five years the number of apparitions or visitations people now see has increased tremendously. That seems to suggest to me the veils between heaven and earth are actually coming down, and one day few will be able to deny the continued existence of the human soul.

"Loved ones who have passed over to the other side can see us at all times, but unfortunately they can't always communicate directly. So instead they appeal to our senses with fragrances, or as a feeling' in a room."

Using his abilities as a medium, Shaun claims he can also help spirits to communicate with the living, by passing on messages to relatives and friends.

"It's a complicated thing," adds the Liverpool resident. "It can be extremely difficult for the spirits to get messages from their world to ours. I can help that process along by receiving information and communicating it.

"Sometimes the information can absolutely flood my brain, or sometimes it's just a flash. It might come as images or feelings, or even voices. I find the spirits all have their own ways of communicating."

Shaun tells me he was drawn to the world of the paranormal even as a young child, although he found his experiences "hard to understand". Brought up in a strict Roman Catholic family, Shaun also says his mother found it hard to accept his "abilities".

"Some orthodox religions do have this attitude that communicating with the other world is wrong, but in my own mind there was nothing wrong at all," he says.

"Many religions teach that the human soul does go on and that really is the whole basis of my work."

He adds: "I always felt what science and religion teach does not provide all the answers.

"I knew there was a gap and tried to discover more about what lies in between. In some ways, I'm surprised more people don't want to know about these things. Do people just think we are all a cosmic accident? I find that harder to believe than life after death."

As Shaun grew older, he developed an interest in meditation, before becoming involved in spiritualism, in an effort to "try to make sense of what I was experiencing." As soon as he did so, Shaun says he felt able to put his abilities towards a more "meaningful purpose".

Now for the past 30 years, Shaun has demonstrated his psychic abilities to individuals and groups, as well as conducting psychic development workshops, mediumship circles and past life regression.

He has also been asked on many occasions to investigate apparently haunted properties.

Shaun tells me: "Sometimes when you go into one of these buildings you find it's really charged with many emotions.

"There have been times when we've found spirits there who are so tied to the earth that they have failed to cross over to the other side.

"Centuries can pass without them actually realising they have died. When this happens, I normally ask others to help me form a rescue circle, where we guide the spirit towards the next realm."

While Shaun's faith in the existence of the afterworld remains steadfast, he does also acknowledge there are many who are not so willing to believe.

"They absolutely have a right to that belief," replies Shaun. "In my mind, most people actually fall somewhere in the middle of total believing or not believing at all. But I would say they should still come along to my show with an open mind."

He adds: "I do know my abilities make a real difference to people's lives. I bring them comfort, because in their minds their loved ones have ceased to exist, but actually they still do exist. That's an amazing thing to be able to do."

Shaun Dennis: The Ultimate Psychic Experience arrives at Wycombe Town Hall on Friday, May 2, 8pm. Tickets: 01494 512 000

Watch a video of Shaun Dennis below