By James Connolly

A self-confessed "eccentric" has spent 30 years hand-digging an other-worldly labyrinth of underground caves 20 feet below the garden of his home.

From the outside, Francis Proctor's home looks perfectly normal to passers-by.

However, it's hiding a subterranean world of tunnels, caverns and quirky surprises that visitors can't help but gape at when they visit it at Southport.

Retired photographer Francis, 76, took 30 years to complete the project, which admits the whole project began with a daft idea.

The entire network was hand-dug by him using spades and shovels.

He said, "When we bought the house more than 50 years ago, I wanted to have an underground room that I could travel down to from the garden.

"It was pretty silly, but I got the idea from the Blue John

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