The saga of the deteriorating Brussels tunnels has taken a farcical turn after it was discovered yesterday that some of the original plans were stored in a space under the Reyers viaduct for years, and “were probably eaten by mice," report various Belgian media. The plans were temporarily stored in the unlikely space, but not moved again until 20 years later, according to Christian Debuysscher, former head of Brussels Mobility.

Debuysscher's surprising answer came in response to a question from former mobility secretary Bruno De Lille yesterday in the Brussels parliament: "What happened to the plans of the tunnels when the responsibility was transferred from the federal to the Brussels government?" he asked during a special meeting on the state of the tunnels in the capital.

When the Brussels-Capital Region was established in 1989, but did not yet have any offices, part of the archives were stored in a space under the Reyers viaduct, which has since been demolished, replied Debuysscher, according to Het Nieuwsblad. The space was normally used to store construction equipment.

The documents, including the plans of the Brussels tunnels, were only moved to a proper storage room in 2010, but “by then the mice had gotten to them," said Debuysscher.