Strange bit of news

[STEED]

Was it the great escape or Britain's first mole man or what?


http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/printer_friendly/news_logo.gif
Man evicted over tunnel network
A pensioner has been evicted from his property after burrowing a 60ft-long tunnel network under his own property.

William Lyttle, 75, has excavated a network of tunnels under his house in Mortimer Road, Hackney, over the last four decades.
Hackney Borough Council feared Mr Lyttle's activities potentially endangered public safety.
Council engineers won an order to evict him so they could carry out emergency repairs to make the property safe.

It's an eyesore
Eric Bussey, neighbour

After the repair work is completed, engineers are planning to assess the full scale of the tunnels and see whether they run under neighbouring properties and roads.
Hackney Borough Council said it believed Mr Lyttle bought the 20-room four-storey property about 30 years ago.
It was originally two separate houses but Mr Lyttle knocked them through to make one complete house.
A spokesperson said if it was in good condition today, the property would be worth an estimated £1m.
The tunnels were first discovered after complaints by nearby residents about rats and pigeons in the area.
Repair bill
Following up neighbours' concerns, an inspection was planned by environmental health officers in June 2003.
On arriving at Mr Lyttle's home, they called off the assessment because the property was judged unsafe.
Eric Bussey, who lives nearby said: "It's an eyesore. You don't want to look at that while you're sitting in your house looking onto your street."
The property is on a bus route and as such, the council said the clear breach of public safety has forced them to act and obtain the eviction order.
"It's private property and until it became a danger to the public we were unable to tackle it," said a council spokeswoman.
"It's essentially up to the courts to decide that and the problem in the past has been that the courts have not agreed with the council." The repair is expected to cost thousands of pounds to which Mr Lyttle will be liable.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/london/4776271.stm

Published: 2006/08/09 14:29:13 GMT

© BBC MMVI

[TteFAboB]

Mole man! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

What's his profession again? Grave digger?

[kiwi_2005]

:rotfl: The drilling of a nuclear war happening back in the 50's must of really meant alot to him:arrgh!:

[STEED]

May be it's a new kind of keep fit programme. :hmm:

[Yahoshua]

Or he could just be a strange old fart who had nothing better to do.

[bradclark1]

After the repair work is completed, engineers are planning to assess the full scale of the tunnels and see whether they run under neighbouring properties and roads.
Huh?
Does this sound odd to anyone?

[scandium]

Hmm... extensive network of tunnels, where have I come across that phrase before... Vietnam? Sounds like he is preparing the way for a future insurgency/revolt after either the overthrow of the British government or a foreign invasion.

Or maybe he took those 'Iraq can strike within 45 minutes' warnings a little too seriously. Tell me, did they also find a large supply of duct tape and plastic sheeting down there? :hmm:

[waste gate]

Hmm... extensive network of tunnels, where have I come across that phrase before... Vietnam?

Or in todays world, hezballa.

[WutWuzDat]

Hmm... extensive network of tunnels, where have I come across that phrase before... Vietnam?

Or in todays world, hezballa.

Or any island the Japs had a foot hold on.... :huh:

That is just a strange story....

[August]

Hmm... extensive network of tunnels, where have I come across that phrase before... Vietnam?
Or in todays world, hezballa.
Or any island the Japs had a foot hold on.... :huh:

That is just a strange story....

Or the French and Roman catacombs, Nazi bunkers or any number of the many other underground excavations man has made throughout history for every reason imaginable.

Leave it to Scandium to bring his anti-us politics into it though... :roll:

[scandium]

Hmm... extensive network of tunnels, where have I come across that phrase before... Vietnam?
Or in todays world, hezballa.
Or any island the Japs had a foot hold on.... :huh:

That is just a strange story....
Or the French and Roman catacombs, Nazi bunkers or any number of the many other underground excavations man has made throughout history for every reason imaginable.

Leave it to Scandium to bring his anti-us politics into it though... :roll:
You are seeing phantoms August, there was no anti-US bias anywhere in that post of mine. But as usual you are so paranoid of any criticism of the U.S. that you lash out at thin air.

I'm beginning to feel sorry for you, I suppose because I empathize with the loss of international prestige and outright hatred for your country that exists in many parts of the world, and yet you are a patriot and one who has served his country while since being led astray by a government who now uses you in its game of spin the terror colour wheel and your foreign comrades-at-arms in imperial adventures overseas that are becoming, increasingly obvious no matter how tightly you squeeze your eyes shut, downright ruinous.

However I have no anti-US bias. My PM is walking in lockstep with your President and the bullseye is on both our backs. In fact like you I am also a Patriot, and one who has no illusions about how closely tied together the fortunes of our two countries are linked; thus, for me to wish harm on the U.S. is unthinkable because it would also mean I was wishing harm on my own country. And then there is the simple fact that there are many things about the U.S. that I still admire, and that I like the country and its people. You guys have always been decent neighbours.