A documentary about the now derelict Cane Hill mental hospital has uncovered a number of ghostly goings on.

Coulsdon's infamous Cane Hill Hospital is set to feature in a television documentary.

Hipposcope Films wants to create a permanent visual record of the Victorian asylum before the site disappears forever when it is redeveloped for housing.

The production team is looking for people connected with the hospital to be interviewed for its documentary, Cane Hill: From the Inside.

Hipposcope will use old photographs, documents, maps and hospital artefacts as well as interviews with former members of staff, residents and historians. It will also include extensive footage of the hospital as it is now.

Project director Keith Boutcher also hopes to involve actor Sir Michael Caine and rock star David Bowie.

He said: "Both of them had half-brothers who were patients in Cane Hill. It's well-documented that David Bowie's half-brother killed himself by lying down on the tracks at Coulsdon South railway station in the 1980s."

Charlie Chaplain's mother Hannah Chaplain was also a patient at Cane Hill and the actor wrote about his visits to the asylum.

During one visit in 1912 when the film star had more money Chaplain moved his mother into private care.

Cane Hill opened in 1883 as a mental asylum and the main part of the site closed in 1992, coinciding with the emergence of the care in the community mental health programme.

The disused site has become derelict over the years and has been the target of arsonists and vandals. It has also proved a popular destination with ghost-hunters as well as urban explorers extreme sports enthusiasts who explore off-limits locations.

"There are ghost stories," Keith added. "We heard a strange one from the security team. One night one of them was patrolling the grounds and the guard dog, which was quite vicious, was let off the lead but ran off in the opposite direction whimpering.

"It was then the figure of a man was seen wandering around the trees.

"When we visited the spot, we found the grave of the hospital's first superintendent Sir James Moody, virtually hidden by undergrowth.

"We had a spooky experience at the site a couple of months ago. My wife thought she saw a figure cross the corridor ahead of us while we checked out filming locations.

"Cane Hill is something of a Mecca for urban explorers too, although anyone who goes up there is trespassing as it's private property."

Another aim of the documentary is to deter trespassers. The site has become unsafe, as there is structural damage and asbestos.

The site is to be turned into housing by English Partnership, which is waiting for the land to be handed over by the NHS.

Hipposcope wants to hear from anyone connected with the hospital. Call Hipposcope on 07970 845523 or email hipposcopefilms@aol.com.