Stunned workmen have unearthed a secret " Peaky Blinders " tunnel leading to one of the oldest pubs in the UK.
The underground passage was discovered by workers digging up the pavement outside The Old Crown pub, which dates back to 1368.
One of the oldest secular buildings in Birmingham, the boozer no doubt has many long lost secrets but the tunnel, which leads to the basement, has remained hidden until now.
Some have asked whether it could be linked to the infamous Peaky Blinders street gang that operated in Birmingham from the 1880s until the 1910s.
Workers made the baffling discovery while making way for the new West Midlands Metro line, reports Birmingham Live.
Pub landlord Kieran McInerney said: "The tunnel was uncovered during the digging of the road for the Metro Alliance tram works.
"We opened it up and found it was a secret tunnel into the cellar, we had no idea it was there."
The pub team shared a photo of the passageway, which sparked online speculation as to what the tunnel was used for.
Some amateur historians suggested that it might have been used as a chute for coal.
"I’m thinking coal shaft but weird position for it," one person wrote.
"Entrance to what would have been a coal cellar. The sacks of coal would have delivered from the drawn cart straight to the cellar," another added.
Other commenters were a little more imaginative with their guesses.
One person guessed that "Peaky Blinders used it to get to the Russian jewels" while another said "it goes to Mexico."
A third person added "smugglers of beer" while others suggested it was used in relation to "witches" or "bodies."
One follower online speculated that the find was related to "dead bodies" that used to be kept in the cellar, according to a local ghost hunt tour.
Another suggested the hole could have been used to get goods into the pub.
"I thought it has always been a pub so I thought it would be beer barrels to go into the cellar?" they said.
However others speculated that the hole was too narrow for hogshead-sized barrels.
The most likely explanation for the tunnel is the theory that it was used as a coal chute.
