.mole man

William Lyttle is a 75-year-old retired electrical engineer. For four decades Mr Lyttle has been digging a series of tunnels under his property on the corner of Mortimer Road and Stamford Road in Hackney, London. In 2001, his tunnelling caused an 8ft hole to appear in the pavement on Stamford Road. Mr Lyttle said the tunnel was just an experiment, but other residents reported seeing a complex network of tunnels when the hole appeared. Hackney Council used sonar technology, and found a web of tunnels and caverns, some 8m (26ft) deep, spreading up to 20m in every direction from his house. In August 2006, the Council succeeded in getting a court order banning Mr Lyttle from his property while they carry out emergency repairs. This property is a decrepit Victorian mansion. It is in disrepair to the point that the council has intervened on the grounds that it is dangerous, but it is clear that Mr Lyttle is concetrating his time on what he must see as a more suitable home, his burrow. The council surveyors estimate that the ‘Mole Man’ has scooped 100 cubic metres of earth from beneath the roads and houses that surround his 20-room property, with a spade and pulleys. He admitted to more than 40 years of "home improvements" on his own land. He sees the council's efforts to prevent him from re-entering his property as breaching his human rights.

"I don't mind the title of inventor," he said. "Inventing things that don't work is a brilliant thing, you know. People are asking you what the big secret is. And you know what? There isn't one." Mole Man.

References:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6092178.stm
http://society.guardian.co.uk/communities/story/0,,1839538,00.html
http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/content/hackney/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=HKYGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshkyg&itemid=WeED04%20Aug%202006%2011%3A45%3A00%3A093
http://www.londonist.com/archives/2006/08/a_london_bus_in.php