We need to remember that he wasn't just putting his and other peoples property at risk, he was risking his and his neighbours' lives.

Fee, London,

The man is not stupid. He knew that one day he'd be caught out (digging) and possibly jailed. Thats why he had been training for almost 40 years in the art of tunneling. Obviously this will secure his "escape" from any high security prison. All this time he has been preparing for his great escape...Or has he been watching too many movies? lol

jayil, london, uk

I propose that Mr Lyttle and his local council team up and open the underground workings to the public. They'd get their money back, and we'd get a chance to view this breathtaking piece of eccentricity.

Conrad, Canterbury,

haha.... this guy is a legend. lol. getting court permits to block any council work.. putting fridges and tumble dryers as foundation pillars is ingeneous if he wanterd to save space in his house. lol. public nuisance it because when, the outside pavement was damaged by his 'building work'. lol. he actually went to the royal courts of justice to prevent the council from intruding in his plans. lol. A Nuisance he was.. alas, he can't eb thaaat poor if he owns a 20 room victorian house in londond.. and he can't eb senile if he had the brains to apply for court injunctions against the council and their intrusions..clever old crazy man, lots of mooney,m will probably pay it off and tell 'em to go away./

Funny though, i do wonder what his intentions were with these "holes". lol.

Usman, Luton, , UK

glad to see the council have sprung, cat-like, into action. Having lived there ten years ago and cycled past his collapsing embarrasment of a caved in subsiding dump every day, I congratulate the authorities for their prompt action.

Oddly, my parking fines came through just lickety-split, and thyey never seemed to wait for the odd decade nor (if I may stretch a point) the passing of the millenium to threaten me with prosecution...

gratefully expatriated, kuwait, kuwait

Legally you can't "booby trap" your house in case of an emergency, and people have to enter. While it is YOUR house it can't be dangerous to the people trying to save your life if it catches fire. Also this probably fails all sorts of building code violations and structure issues after the modifications.

Sean, Indianapolis,

Hal, many of the properties in London are on 99 near leases from the Royal family.

Dan, New York, NY, USA

"If it is truely HIS house it is no one elses business what he does with it"

Tell that to his neighbour who has had his property damaged by this person's activities.

David Croft, North Vancouver, Canada/ British Columbia

I suppose the council had some rights if this was affecting a neighbouring property, however it is his land and his house and he is free to do as he wishes with respect of his house. Am I right in saying he was actually burying large objects such as cars? Well, his land or not that is an environmental issue which the council would intervene in. I don’t think they have a right to evict him and go boldly into his house and do the repairs if he doesn’t want them.

The cost is a joke to be honest, and the poor man is obviously in need of some help psychologically, the man is 77 years old too.

The system in this country sucks, and councils have too much power to do too many things, and refuse to do things like clean up our streets from anti-social behaviourism and vandalism. They always seem to attack decent vulnerable people and not do anything about those who should be subjected to the heavy hand of the law.

He did some wrong, but on the whole I feel sorry for him, despite his eccentricity.

DJ, Ayrshire, UK

I assume that Judge McKenna determined that the costs bills were reasonable, based on the cost of providing his services.

C Byrne, Pinner, UK

My question is: Did he ever reach China?

Curt, Houston, Texas, USA

only mad dogs and englishmen.

jcp, New York, New York

In America, If you live within city limits you have to apply for a permit to make improvements to your property, and these have to be inspected and approved upon completion. It seems a little irrritating, to pay for permission to work on your own home, but if you ever buy a house where there has been 'improvements' that are substandard, you begin to see the logic.

Mr. Lyttle was a a little nuts.

Hi Hal

Randall Larsen
Mansfield TX

Randall, Mansfield , Texas

My understanding has always been that any work that you carry out to your house which results affects the building structurally (in which I would include undermining and underpinning with household appliances!) require Building Regulations approval. I would love to see his structural calculations justifying the load bearing capacity of a fridge!

Anna, kendal, uk

Not much of an engineer if he didn't know digging out underneath the basement would destablise the house........ I too would love to know what he used the tunnels for .

Redandover60, Hayes, Middlesex, England

I suspect the council will seize the house to "pay" the fine and then rent it to Lee Jasper for £93.75 a month. After an extensive renovation programme, of course.

Roger Thornhill, LondonUK, UK

No one's property is actually theirs. It used to belong to the monarchy and now it belong to the government.

No one owns their property absolutely which is why we have to pay council tax and apply for planning permission to do anything with it.

Yes I know the laws here are completely stupid. You pay £400,000.00 for a decent house which you don't isn't really yours.

C, London,

Hal Thurow, Mansfield, USA Texas - i would agree that its noone elses business what he does with his house but when hios neighbours house gets affected and the pavement outside does to then he makes it other peoples business, rtfa

Dave, UK,

To Hal Thurow, I would point out that the item refers to the damage caused by Mr Lyttle to the neighbouring property and the pavement outside, so it isn't just his own proprty that he is damaging.

Richard, Manchester,

Where did he put the earth he excavated? Did he persuade his friends to walk about with the trousers stuffed full of soil?

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

If it is truely HIS house it is no one elses business what he does with it. If it is not his house then it is deceptive to say it is his. If someone lead him to believe it is his, when it is not, they should be held responsible for decieving him.

Hal Thurow, Mansfield, USA Texas

WHY has Mr Lyttle been doing this? Is this pure 'off the chart' eccentricity or did he have some purpose?

Mike, Balsall Common, UK