Should I tell the police?

[PonyPals]

This is more of what would you do..
So my dad is in construction and he started a job today where he has to replace a floor in a garage.
Whilst ripping up the floor he found a semi hidden door behind a big mirror that was hanging up on a wall at the very back of the garage.
The door was half the normal size and when he looked in he saw that it was a small space with no windows but a mattress a tv and a book. It also had a vent leading out of it and the tube was across the garage roof.. we think for air (does that makes sense?)
So what do you think the room could be for?
Client is a man maybe in his 70s. Lives alone.
Should we report this to the police or are we letting our imagination run away?

😅

Yes, they'll have been rumbled by the homeowner while taking photos and examining the TV and book for clues.

Entertaining thread

If it were anything sinister and the man knew there was work going on down there surely he would have emptied it? Your dad should just casually drop it into conversation and note the man's reaction - "I noticed your little room down there, what's it used for?" But in a conversational not accusational tone of course!

A lot of paedophiles (which for some reason I'm leaving towards more than kidnapper ect) and similar are so narcissistic that they like to hint at exactly who they are to others.

So I wouldn't put it past them to hire people to do work at the scene of their crimes. And getting their kicks from freaking the people out.
They also think they can talk their way out of anything because they're 'so much smarter' than everyone else.

So in my opinion the 'if there were anything illegal he wouldn't be likely to get workers in' argument doesn't hold weight unfortunately.

I would suspect that IF it's dodgy, it's probably paedo ring dodgy. Or, was. But...couldn't harm to Google if anyone went missing in the area I suppose.

Hahahaaa I can't wait for this thread to feature in the Netflix doc: "The Mumsnetter who knew too much"

Hiding criminals, illegal immigrants or involved in people smuggling. As you haven't replied op I think maybe you have written that part yet?

Oh dear. Not to worry, ChristmasIsRuined I'm not embarrassed in the slightest.

I think the chances of this being a massively antique, not to mention highly unusual tv (along with a 1930's/40's era mattress) and situated in a 'casual' place like a hideyhole in the back of a garage, are so remote that I'm just laughing. Yes. I do know that broadcast television started, albeit in a very limited way, in the 1930's in the UK. (And then shut down pretty much instantly at the onset of the war, so the idea that this is a WWII era bomb shelter that contained a WWII era tv is absurd, unless it was being used as a coffee table or something...)

But thank you for your reminder. Do you know how common (or uncommon) owning a television set was in the 1930's? Very, very few for the population. And nobody would have been buying one during the war years because - no broadcasts! Even assuming they could find one for sale, as I believe they weren't being manufactured 1939-46.)

Here's something for you, since you seem to be a history enthusiast.
blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/history-of-british-television-timeline/

Bonkers thread and I've read it all. The coppers won't be interested and will probably laugh if it was to be reported. That said a diagram would help as I can seem to envisage what this room is in connection to the garage and the wider property.

@GlomOfNit that response was really satisfying to read

Some of you have very active imaginations!

Post photos!

😳.

Well thank you!
I shouldn't have risen to the bait but I resent being told I ought to feel embarrassed, and hell, I'm feeling fighty today. HRT gel probably didn't sink in properly.

I really wouldn’t post photos.

If this gets picked up by the daily mail, the client isn’t going to be very happy is he!

He could be accused of all sorts, it is bloody weird having a mattress in a crawl space!

Maybe it's been there since the 70s/80s when the government gave us all advise on how to survive a nuclear war

I’m intrigued, hoping the OP comes back with an update.

😂

We had some neighbours a few years ago who partitioned their largish garage and put a sort of mezzanine in it at the top. It had little light and no running water but he still managed to rent it out to two young women who worked in a restaurant locally. So when I read the OP I thought 'lodger'. Not exactly legal but not sinister either.

Still want to know how old is the TV is and what the book was.

I dunno, taking advantage of people who are so underpaid and desperate they'll live in a home made garden building with no running water sounds pretty sinister to me!

I'd be far more likely to report this to the police than what OP has described

Reminds me of the story a few weeks ago about the workman on the kitchen with his bit on the side.

You wouldn't have a ventilation pipe to the outside in a nuclear fallout shelter.

If was definitely illegal and I think some brave soul reported it to the council -- it was unlicensed for human habitation and the lodgers were indeed being exploited (but presumably took it because of a very low rent)
But one day it was suddenly empty and the door was left wide open. The goss said the owner turfed the women out as the council inspectors were due to come around.
This particular neighbour had a terrible, terrible reputation and everyone tried to steer well clear. He was evicted himself after a stand-off with the police.

I’d report it just in case.

He's maybe one of those doomsday preppers.