Motorcyclists travelling on the Southend Arterial Road in the late 1950's and early 1960's told stories of a young woman that would thumb a lift from the area of the Rayleigh cutting, wanting to get to an address in Basildon.

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The cyclists would give the woman a lift, only to later look back and realise she was no longer there.  At least one cyclist went to the address in Basildon he was given.  He was told by the occupants that their daughter had been killed some weeks earlier in a motorcycle accident in the cutting.

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One man gave a young woman a lift in his van.  She told the driver not to go too fast as his new tyres wouldn't be safe.  As he turned to talk to her he lost control and ended up on the verge.

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He got out to check his tyres and then opened the passenger door to thank her only to find that she had disappeared.  He later heard the story of the ghostly motorcycle passenger.

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