How not to excavate a basement: 'This is the closest I dared to go'

With safety blunders of this magnitude it pays to have a zoom on your camera.

Colin Burden took this shot of an basement excavation in Newcastle and said it was the closest he dared to go.

He was wise to keep his distance as it appears that the floorboards on the first floor may be in the only element keeping the house from collapsing into what looks like a farmer’s slurry pit.

Thankfully, says Burden, the building inspector has now been out on site.