Homelessness crisis laid bare after man found living in a CLOTHES BIN

SWNS

Heartbreaking footage lays bare Britain's homelessness crisis after a man was discovered living - inside a CLOTHES BIN.  The man, known only as Nigel, has set up home inside a clothing bank near a church car park in the Erdington area of Birmingham.  The 52-year-old found himself on the streets of the second city after being put up in a multiple occupancy house with drug addicts in Northampton.  Nigel, originally from London, said he is recovering from a 20 year heroin addiction so walked out of the HMO in a bid to stay clean.   He then discovered the unlocked clothes bin around five weeks ago where he now sleeps each night before begging on the streets by day.  Video footage shows how Nigel has set up a mini home for himself inside the bin -which he describes as the 'comfiest bed he has ever slept in".  As well as bedding and duvets, it even has his own 'library' with a selection of books as well as a 'beer shelf'.

Transcript

00:00I left home when I was 16 because Dad kept beating me up.

00:03OK.

00:04And so I couldn't handle that.

00:06Moved in with a girlfriend and a mum.

00:09And got jobs, had various jobs.

00:13Mechanic, bricklaying, plastering.

00:17And then I started...

00:19I didn't start training Class A until I was 31.

00:22I'm 52 now.

00:23I tried the dark first, the heroin.

00:26I didn't realise I had a habit, so I wanted to stop.

00:30About 18 months later,

00:33my wife was pregnant with my son.

00:36I thought, I've got to stop.

00:38So I was in London, back in London.

00:40We were living in Western Superman.

00:42I phoned her up, said, come and get me.

00:44And I kid you not, I had to stop at every lay-by,

00:48every service station to be sick,

00:50and stomach cramps and everything else.

00:52We got home to Western Superman.

00:54I said, look, you have to put a bucket by my bed.

00:57After 10 days, she said, what was that?

00:59I said, that's what you call rat-clucking or ratting,

01:01whatever you want to call it, off the gear.

01:03She said, I didn't realise you had a habit.

01:05I said, neither did I until I went back to London.

01:08And I've dabbled since,

01:12but I haven't had a habit since.

01:15I've come close to it, but I don't take Class A's any more.

01:18So you're totally off heroin?

01:21So would you say that you're dependent on drink?

01:24No, I used to be.

01:27I don't wake up wanting or needing a drink any more,

01:30but it helps me sleep at night.

01:33I actually sleep in a clothing bin behind the church.

01:48Four weeks, five weeks?

01:50Four or five weeks.

01:52Oh, wow.

01:57Oh, wow, it's inside there?

01:59Yep.

02:00No way, it's inside a clothes bin.

02:03Let me move this up.

02:07Show us inside, open it up.

02:13Oh, wow.

02:15That's a lot of clothes.

02:17That's a lot of clothes.

02:19That's a lot of clothes.

02:21That's a lot of clothes.

02:24Oh, wow, so that's where you're at?

02:26Yep.

02:27How long have you been here?

02:29Four or five weeks.

02:30Four or five weeks?

02:31Yeah.

02:32Oh, wow.

02:33What made you think of going into there?

02:36Well, I didn't realise it was open,

02:38so I went to look for some clothes,

02:40and I realised it was open.

02:42Oh, wow.

02:44So is it warm inside?

02:46Yeah, yeah.

02:47Yeah.

02:48It's not dug in or anything.

02:49Okay.

02:51Okay.

02:52And what's it like when it rains in there?

02:54It's waterproof.

02:55Yeah?

02:56Yeah.

02:57Okay, so people are still put clothes in here?

02:59Mm-hmm.

03:00Oh, that's mad.

03:01So you've always got a supply of clothes?

03:03Mm-hmm.

03:04Okay, you're smart, you are.

03:06You're smart.

03:09No way.

03:10So how long do you think that you'll be here?

03:13Well, until this bed comes up in Coventry.

03:15Oh, so you're waiting until it comes in Coventry?

03:17Yeah.

03:18So how long do you reckon?

03:20It might be Monday, but, you know,

03:22what they're doing is waiting for Coventry Council to re-house a bloke.

03:26I'm not running from anything or anybody.

03:28It's just that, you know, I've got a condition called DID,

03:32dissociative identity disorder,

03:34which is a multiple personality disorder,

03:37which means, I mean, the person you're talking to now is my original self.

03:41Okay.

03:42But sometimes somebody else will take over.

03:44Okay.

03:45And, you know, it's all a matter of if I can trust you or not.

03:49Okay.

03:50I mean, my ex-girlfriend said she's met about 97 different idols.

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