Hermit dies in tunnels of rubbish inside house

Published on Wednesday 7 January 2009 20:57

AN ECCENTRIC recluse has died in an intricate network of tunnels built from rubbish in his home.

Investigators believe the labyrinth was so complicated that Gordon Stewart, 74, may have become lost inside it.

Police called in a specialist diving team on Friday afternoon because the smell from the semi-detached house in Broughton, Buckinghamshire, was overpowering. Neighbours who had not seen Mr Stewart for several days had raised the alarm.

According to witnesses, the officers were faced with mounds of foul-smelling garbage, which Mr Stewart had used to construct tunnels in his two-storey home.

Police discovered a confusing system of passageways built from discarded carrier bags, boxes, old furniture and other assorted junk around the interior of the building, with Mr Stewart entombed inside.

Neighbours said Mr Stewart wore a pony-tail, and described him as "a bit of a hermit".

Terence Dumpleton, 56, who lives a few door from the house, said: "The old boy used to go past on his bike, but he rarely talked to anybody.

I have only ever been to the front door. You can't actually get inside because there are cardboard boxes crammed from floor to ceiling – you can see that from the street."

Mr Dumpleton said some residents had complained about the state of the building, saying there were rodents there.

A car dating from the 1950s stands in the garage, believed to have been left untouched for years as rubbish built up around it.

A spokesman from Thames Valley Police, said: "Police forced entry where they found a man's body. There are no suspicious circumstances."

A post-mortem examination was due to be carried out yesterday.

A spokeswoman for Buckinghamshire County said there had been no contact between social work and Mr Stewart.

Aylesbury Vale District Council, which deals with environmental health, said it had only been aware of rubbish problems in the garden and that Mr Strewart had denied access to his home.

Lindsay Scott, a spokesman for Help the Aged in Scotland, said: "The elderly, like everyone else are entitled to their privacy. But collecting this amount of rubbish was a health hazard and might give an inkling of mental illness.

"In these circumstances I would advise contacting social services, even through an anonymous telephone call."