3:17pm UK, Thursday August 08, 2002

Stressed-out workers have been rushing to answer a newspaper advertisement for a hermit.

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Work stressed?

More than 200 years after they were last in fashion in Britain, professional hermits appear to be back on the job market.

The ad for a resident hermit for Shugborough stately home brought a flood of replies from men eager to escape the rat race.

Organiser Corinne Caddy said: "There have been a few hermits in Britain since their heyday but they've usually just been recluses and loners.

Cave life

"This is the first time the job of a resident hermit has been advertised in more than 250 years.

"We've been stunned by the number of applications we have received - it seems there are lots of people out there who just want to be a professional hermit."

The successful candidate will have to live in a cave on the grounds of the estate and abandon human contact - except to scare away visitors.

To add insult to injury, they will also probably have to give up shaving and bathing.