Plane Fuselage Lowered into Derbyshire Man’s Back Garden

A man in Hilton, Derbyshire, has lowered the fuselage of a former Bmibaby Boeing 737-500 into his back garden. Dave Billings, 45, bought the aircraft section for £4,000 and used a crane to place it into a large hole he had dug.

Billings plans to adapt the fuselage into an underground 'man cave', which will connect to an existing underground room beneath his garden. He first saw the plane listed on Facebook Marketplace and decided to buy it after consulting with his seven-year-old son.

The aircraft, which was built in 1993, made its last flight in 2013. It previously flew holidaymakers from East Midlands Airport to destinations including Alicante, Malaga and Faro. In 2009, it was named Pudsey Baby for the BBC Children in Need appeal.

Billings has documented the project on his YouTube channel, Tornado Dave, which has more than 326,000 subscribers. He used a 3D printer to create a scale model of how the fuselage will connect to the existing underground room. He aims to have the project finished by February and plans to apply for retrospective planning permission.