If you ask locals about folklore stories in the area, one tale you’re bound to hear is the story of a phantom hitchhiker known to haunt Blackwall Tunnel. Stretching for 1.1 miles under the river Thames, the tunnel has become the setting for a chilling urban legend. It’s quite a story, dating back to the 1970s. A van driver supposedly picked up a hitchhiker, a young man in dated clothes carrying a bag. The hitchhiker asked to be dropped on the Canning Town flyover and after a brief conversation, he abruptly vanished from the passenger seat, leaving behind only the damp imprint of his clothes. Many variations of the story have sprung up over the years, with the vanished hitchhiker sometimes being a lady instead of a man, but the basic structure remains the same. The ethereal passenger is often described as solitary, sad, and surrounded by an air of mystery. Drivers who claim to have met the phantom hitcher often describe feeling an eerie chill and an overwhelming sense of melancholy that follows the encounter. Though no tangible evidence exists to prove the truth behind these ghostly encounters, the stories persist, adding a dash of intrigue and macabre fascination to the ordinary drive through Blackwall Tunnel.