I'll tell you something, me love” rang out the familiar Yorkshire voice, “And I'll tell you something else ...”

Yes, spiritualist medium Stephen Holbrook was back in town, performing, as usual, in front of a packed house.

His well-polished patter may be the same during his regular visits to the city, but what are different, and what bring in the crowds time after time, are the messages Stephen purports to relay from loved ones who have passed to the “other side”.

The friendly Yorkshireman – who describes himself as a “telephone exchange between this world and the other” – brings tears of joy and sadness as well as much laughter to his clairvoyance evenings, all the while giving comfort to those in the audience who have suffered the loss of a loved one.

Well, the calls came thick and fast on Sunday evening and Stephen answered every one. It's the most mundane things people from the other side “say” to attract the attention of their friends and relatives in the audience, and Sunday's messages were no different.

There was the dead mum who, through Stephen, passed a message to her daughter in the audience, to tell her the vacuum cleaner (that once belonged to the mum) “stinks” and the daughter must clean it out.

Or the dad who told his daughter he knew she had put on a pink top to wear to the show, changing her mind at the last minute to wear a white one – both messages confirmed to be true by the willing receivers.

And in his own cheeky way, the spiritualist hinted at future childbirth, telling the audience he was responsible for “140 pregnancies last year”.

Stephen attributes his powers to his guide, Archie May, who helps him channel the chatter of the dead through to the living.

And who can prove him wrong when time after time his messages hit their target?

Whether you believe or not, you're sure of an entertaining couple of hours when Mr Holbrook is in town.

Stephen Holbrook comes to the Quality Royal Hotel, Ferensway, Hull on Sunday, September 7, at 7.30pm. Tickets, at £13, must be pre-booked. Call (01924) 256542