THE man at the centre of a four-day police operation involving chemicals and weapons finds is a 60-year-old “recluse”.

The suspect at the centre of the alert on Ullet Road, Aigburth, is grey-haired loner Graham Kelly.

He was originally arrested in July and is in custody facing a charge of possessing a firearm, but a further discovery at his flat sparked the latest scare which included calling out the bomb squad.

Thirty fellow residents of the 15 flats at 9, Ullet Road, were finally allowed back into their homes yesterday.

A stash of mystery substances and at least one firearm are understood to have been discovered by police after a tip-off from Kelly’s nephew.

He also shared an allotment on Greenbank Lane with Garston librarian Joanne Radley.

She had to call in police several times after finding weapons, ammunition, a silencer and chemicals during several digs at the allotment over the last month.

The 39-year-old mother said: “He told me never to dig deep up there, because his dead dog was buried there.”

Evacuated students who live in the flats alongside Kelly said they no longer felt safe there.