Mystified postman Michael Nolan never knows what he will find when he starts digging in his back garden.

Michael Nolan with some of the odd items he has dug up in the garden of his Oxford home

So far, the 52-year-old has dug up a television, deck chair, table, video player, children's slide, bike wheels, a double bed, windows, carpets and the dismantled parts of most of a car. After three years of digging at his council house in Freelands Road, near Donnington Bridge, Oxford, he has filled two lorries and created potholes in his lawn. Mr Nolan and his wife Karen are baffled as to why someone would bury a television in the back garden instead of taking it to the council tip at Redbridge, less than five minutes' drive away. And none of their neighbours have been able to give them an answer.

The couple started unearthing junk when they began clearing waist-high undergrowth at the bottom of the garden to create a play area for their grandchildren.

They are now desperately trying to clear the garden and level the lawn in time to throw a garden party for their daughter Alison's 21st birthday next month. They wanted to erect a gazebo and they kept tripping over mounds and potholes.

Mr Nolan said: "I just wonder what else I'm going to dig up. There's a mound of earth I'm frightened to dig up in case I start finding bodies."

When they uncovered a 21-inch television a couple of inches below the lawn on June 9, they concluded the job was too big for them.

Nextdoor neighbour Anna Hunt, 29, said she was puzzled and surprised at what the family had dug up.

She said: "I found some junk and drug needles in my garden when I first moved in, but nothing like that."

The Nolan family wants Oxford City Council to help, saying the junk was probably dumped by a previous tenant.

Mr Nolan said: "It's the council's responsibility to make sure the garden was in good condition when we moved in. We have been digging bit by bit for three years but we gave up in the end. It's something I really don't want to do. It's dangerous. If one of the children had jumped on the grass above that television, they could have gone straight through."

The council has told the Nolans that the problem is their responsibility but has agreed to take the bulky items away free of charge.

Housing tenancy services manager Laurinda Hornblow said: "Our estate manager wrote to the tenants in Freelands Road in May as she had seen and was concerned about the condition of the back garden.

"However, the tenancy agreement clearly states that they are responsible for everything in their garden, including keeping it tidy."