pic: William Lytlle outside his Hackney home
As much as we love a good British eccentric, neighbours of retired engineer William Lyttle could be forgiven for their weary attitude towards the resident tunnel-maker.
Lyttle, 77, likes to dig. And we’re not talking a spot of light gardening here, we’re talking Viet Cong style tunnelling on a grand scale.
Dubbed the "Mole Man" by his neighbours, Mr Lyttle has been busy burrowing away underneath his home for the past forty years, and up until now most neighbourly complaints about his subterranean habits have fallen on deaf ears.
Hackney council said they could do nothing: it’s private property and if the bloke wants to spend his days shovelling, well, that's his business. And so he did. Obsessively.
Dirty Habit
In 2001 a 15 ft-wide hole appeared on the public footpath as a result of the ongoing underground excavations and the council started to pay attention. But still the digging went on.
But by 2006 Mr Lyttle had dug a hole so deep that his house had become unstable and the council saw fit to evict him for his own safety.
Surveyors were recently sent 'round with ultrasound scanners and discovered an underground labyrinth of caverns and tunnels thought to run 26 feet deep and extend to a radius of 20m in every direction from his home.
Tonnes of gravel and general junk has been shifted from the dilapidated site and the tunnels of Mortimer Road have been sealed up for good with cement – all at a cost of £283,000.
The High Court has ruled that Mr Lyttle must pay back this amount to the council within 14 days or his home will have to be put up for sale.
The neighbours are undoubtedly delighted, but one unnamed local was almost envious of Lyttle’s achievements.
He told the Evening Standard: "People hate him but he's a nice, intelligent fellow. I don't know why he digs but he knows what he's doing.
"He used to have a business in Old Street. There were once 68 skips full of earth outside and the tunnels go 12 feet down. I wish I could shovel like he can." Could this be mole man #2 in the making?
