Student Joseph Birch, 20, and painter Sotiris Charalambous, 34, acquired the antique mirror when their landlord put it in a skip outside their in Muswell Hill, London five months ago.

But ever since then, the pair claim they have been brought nothing but bad luck, misery, financial problems and illness.

Mr Charalambous says it has caused him to wake up screaming with ‘stabbing pains’ in the night.