A retired engineer nicknamed “Mole Man”, because of his fondness for burrowing tunnels under his home, has been ordered to pay almost £300,000 to the local council after his hobby nearly caused his house to collapse.

William Lyttle, 77, spent 40 years excavating a maze of tunnels beneath his 20-room Victorian property in Hackney, East London, before the council intervened.

The £300,000 charge, representing the cost of repairs carried out by the council, is believed to be the highest in a “public nuisance” case.

Inspectors discovered that parts of the house were supported by nothing more than household appliances and that ceilings had fallen in as a result of his extensive “home improvements”.

Mr Lyttle also dug out holes around his home, in which he placed a range of items including cars and boats.

The London Borough of Hackney had Mr Lyttle evicted in 2006 so council workmen could move in and save the house and a neighbouring property. The pavement outside was also affected.

Judge McKenna, presiding at the hearing at the High Court in London, ordered Mr Lyttle to pay £283,026 for the repairs and £10,000 in legal costs.

He also imposed an injunction on Mr Lyttle to prevent him undoing any of the work completed so far on site.

Simon Butler, representing the council, said in his written submissions that Mr Lyttle had used assorted items such as a fridge-freezer and a bath to prop up portions of his home. “There were poles which had been used to prop sections of floor, which were clearly bowing out of vertical due to the excessive load which the building had been subjected to,” he wrote.

“Mr Lyttle had extended below the existing basement to the property and mined the two main garden areas. He had also undermined and cut away at the foundation of the neighbouring property.”

Mr Butler said Mr Lyttle was ordered by Thames Magistrates Court to take down or repair the house in May 2006, but failed to comply, and the council moved in to undertake the work.

He told the court: “Mr Lyttle has been obstructive, has issued numerous applications in the County Court and the Royal Courts of Justice over the last five years, and has caused the council to incur unnecessary expenses abating a nuisance he has created, because he fails to use his land in a reasonable manner.”

Mr Lyttle, who defended himself in court, was given 14 days to pay.

Judge McKenna, giving his judgment, said the costs bills were reasonable.

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