"I was cycling up around Newcastle Airport and noticed that no planes are flying in or out due to COVID-19, but the car park is full of very closely parked cars," Alan said.

"On inspection, it appeared to me that the airport car park is being used to store hundreds if not a thousand unused hire cars from where I don't know."

Hire cars, he said, had obviously been another victim of the virus during the lockdown and travel bans.

Turns out you're on the money, Alan.

Newcastle Airport confirmed that it "reached out to our rental car partners to offer a safe place for them to park their fleet while everyone is working from home".

"This is the broader fleet of vehicles, not just those that are normally based at the airport," a spokeswoman said.

"You will see that most of the vehicles are currently parked in our long-stay car park."

However, they will be moved around while the airport takes the opportunity to do improvements on its car parks during this quiet period.

Hopefully the skies open soon, hey.

About 50 years ago, Tony Davis and his wife lived in his grandmother's old place in West Wallsend.

The property had been vacant for about four years.

"My mum and dad were living in Cooks Hill and were looking after the Westy house. They invited us to live there at a very reasonable rental. If we helped do it up, they would assist and also pay for materials," Tony said.

The deal was hard to resist.

"One small problem - it was reputed to be haunted," he said.

Undaunted, they decided to move in.

"All was quiet, no ghosts for the first few days. Then one night when I was working very late on a uni assignment, I heard a dreadful noise followed by a ghostly groaning," he said.

"All this was coming from under the house. The house was built on high sandstone pillars. I jumped up, grabbed my torch and walked quietly down the back steps, shining the torch under the house in the direction of the dreadful groaning noise."

He soon found the noise source.

"A large white cow was scratching herself on one of the pillars at 2am. As she was doing this, she was making the most horrific noise."

The next morning, Tony chased the white cow - known as Mrs White - and her four-cow posse out the front gate.

He soon discovered - after talking to neighbour Wat Wickham - that the white cow was the leader of the gang. She knew how to open their gate.

Tony asked Wat for advice.

"Your study is in the front of the house, so when you see this cow coming along the street with her mates, arm yourself with a large piece of cardboard or a thin piece of packing case," Wat told Tony.

"When Mrs White reaches your gate, dash out and smack her on the rear end. You don't want to injure her, you just want to frighten her. Make a hell of a noise as you do it."

Tony took the advice. The next time he saw Mrs White, he shouted and roared.

"She and her mates took off at a gallop," he said.

Soon after, the cow posse approached.

"Three or four houses before they came to our place, they paused then crossed the road."

The ghost had been busted.