William Lyttle (1931 – June 2010) was an Irish eccentric, notable for digging an extensive network of tunnels under his home in De Beauvoir Town, London.

[3] Laureate Iain Sinclair included a chapter in his book, Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire, about Lyttle in which he chronicles the stories of London's "artists, the homeless, the eccentrics".

Originally, the plot contained two modest Victorian, terraced houses which Lyttle knocked-through and connected soon after acquiring the property.

[3] Lyttle firstly dug out a wine cellar under his home and said that he had "found a taste for the thing" and kept on digging for the next forty years.

[13] Lyttle's tunnelling remained a secret, however, he also carried out modifications to the main building, subdividing it into several "unevenly designed bedsits".

[3] Lyttle's tunnelling attracted complaints from neighbours when sinkholes began to appear in the pavement and when water and power supplies were interrupted.

[citation needed] In 2006, a large sink hole opened up spanning the road outside Lyttle's property revealing some of the tunnelling system below.

[13] In 2008, the High Court of Justice ordered that Lyttle cover the costs of the council making the structure safe, at a total of £293,000 (equivalent to £493,863 in 2023).

[5][7] Lyttle was evicted in 2006 and Hackney Borough Council filled the tunnels with 2,000 tonnes of aerated concrete and removed 33 short tons (30 t) of rubble at a cost of £293,000 (equivalent to £535,478 in 2023).

[17][3][14] 33 short tons (30 t) of soil and debris were removed from Lyttle's former garden and from some of the rooms, including the wrecks of three cars and a boat.

The Council said the demolition would result in "the loss of a building of local townscape merit, which is a heritage asset and makes a positive contribution to the special historic character of the De Beauvoir Conservation Area."