When director Simon Hare began making a film about a medium at work he considered himself to be fairly sceptical.

But now, six months later, he is convinced that David Traynor, has a special gift. And he is preparing to travel with him to America where the medium will be offering to help relatives of 9/11 victims.

Simon, from Horsforth, readily admits that he started out half expecting a scam, but he says he has been amazed by the accuracy of the information he has seen the spirit medium provide – and has had personal readings which have proved uncannily accurate.

Now he is hoping to accompany David to Long Island on a three-day trip later this month.

The medium, who owns a chain of hair salons in St Helens, performed on Broadway earlier this year and was invited back to America by some of the relatives of the 9/11 victims.

Simon, 42, will accompany him on his trip to meet some of those who are seeking spiritual guidance to cope with their suffering and loss.

The terrible disaster had a massive impact on the local community.

“Something like one in every six households has lost somebody in this whole area,” Simon said.

He said David had been invited back after doing a reading for a woman who had a connection with the disaster.

For Simon, the chance to visit Long Island is set to be a profound experience.

“It was the worst disaster in my lifetime, and to actually meet these people who have been touched by this disaster and to see David working with them will be incredible,’’ he said.

Simon’s company, Moving Eye Productions, was invited to film a biography about David six months ago after the medium approached the Leeds cameraman Gareth Fielding, who is working in conjunction with Simon.

Simon said: “I went as a complete sceptic and met quite a few people through the interviewing process. As time went by I realised how accurate he was.

“A close friend of the family went to see David and his accuracy was amazing. He gave a name and said how this person had died and he got the links between them.”

“He comes out with specifics – dates, names, places. His detail is so remarkable I don’t know how he can do it.”

He added: “When you are meeting these people and getting their point of view it doesn’t take long to realise that this is genuine. He is helping these people and he has definitely got something.”

“I have always been a very sceptical person, but I have interviewed getting on for 20 people now and they were all given specifics in each case.

“You try and keep an open mind, and first of all – to be honest – you look at it from a scam point of view. I was thinking it must be a trick.”

But he says he is convinced that David has something.

He cited a case where one woman, whose son had died in an accident in Mallorca, had only gone along to a reading to keep a friend company.

“She had gone along with somebody else and was sat in the corner of the room while this lady was being read.

“All of a sudden he turned to her and said I have got your son. He told her his nickname and said he was on a motorbike in Mallorca when the accident happened.”

Gareth said he liked to keep a degree of healthy scepticism, but he had also been impressed with David, who is also a hairdresser.

He believes most people have no experience of mediums apart from watching TV programmes such as Most Haunted which he argues cheapen the whole issue.

“It is quite nice to work with David because he’s a bit different from that.

“Although he does make money out of it he is more than happy to help people for free.

“Sometimes he hasn’t got the heart to charge them.”

“Nowadays there are a lot of charlatans around who are just doing it for a quick buck.

“Whether I believe it or not I am genuinely convinced that David believes it.”

David, 42, pictured, says he has been seeing the dead since he was four.

“I used to see people in my bedroom. My dad was an undertaker, and when someone crossed over from this life I used to see them. I used to say ‘You went to pick up such-and-such a body’ and I would say I had just communicated with them.

“He would go mad, but in the end it was just accepted.”

“In later life I have just decided to develop and use my gift for the greater good of others.”

Now he is hoping to bring comfort to some of the friends and relatives of those who died in the attack on the Twin Towers.

“I went to America and while I was over there I met some people who were directly connected and who had lost people in 9/11.

He said he had done one reading over the phone for a woman who lost a number of people in 9/11, and in another he had communicated with a fireman who died in the 2001 attack on the Twin Towers.

He said one of the women he spoke to had been left so devastated by her loss that she was suicidal.

He explained that the group which had invited him over would cover his expenses but he would not charge any fee.

“The thing is I do think it is a worthy cause. I am not going over there for any financial gain from those people. I am just trying to give them a bit of peace really.”

David will be appearing in Leeds later this month and Simon will be filming the performance.

He stressed that his events were not dour.

“It is not at all like anybody thinks. It is very normal and ordinary. You have fun with people in the after world. It is not horrible or dull or spooky. It is very nice and confirming.”

An Evening with David Traynor – Spirit Medium will take place at The Village Hotel, Otley Road, Headingley, Leeds, on Tuesday, October 14. Doors open at 7.30 for 8.00pm. Tickets cost £10. To book, telephone 01457 870036.