A homeowner says his family has been given a spooky Christmas surprise after a Victorian man appeared on his boiler.

The Dickensian figure appeared after the combi boiler was serviced, where workmen had put duct tape to hold the appliance in place.

James Mangan, 55, from Holmstead in the Singleton area of Ashford, said the character appeared a few weeks after the work was completed.

Mr Mangan, who works as an operations manager for a cleaning contractor, said: “We have found an image of an elderly Victorian man on our combined boiler. It appeared last week and we cannot understand where it came from.

“I took a picture of it on the iPad and sent it to my wife, and to my children away at university, and they all said they could see it. It has just appeared there, it’s not like anyone has drawn it on or anything.

“It’s a bit spooky before Christmas trying to explain it or who he is.”

The image has caused some debate in the newsroom as to where exactly the Victorian man's face starts, and whether he is in fact more akin to a Picasso man instead.

It is not the first time an odd face has been spotted unexpectedly. In 2012 Herne Bay resident Kenny Iddenden was surprised to see the face of Jesus Christ in mould behind his fridge.

Also in 2012, Stanhope resident Mark Smith and his wife Dawn said they could spot the face of the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher in their ultrasound scan.

Then in 2014 Whitstable resident Margaret Hofman said she could see a little-silhouetto-of-a-man, Freddie Mercury, in a pile of coats.