Homeless man living in nature reserve for months

A homeless man has been living in a makeshift camp in a Lincolnshire nature reserve for five months amid calls for the council to help him find accommodation.

Residents nearby have raised concerns about fires being lit in the woods, noise disturbances, littering and their personal safety.

Stan said he was living there because it was safe as "not too many people can see him" and he had to start fires in order to cook, dry clothes and keep warm.

North Lincolnshire Council leader Rob Waltham said: "In a tolerant community, the response should be to work together... to support this individual." However, the council would not comment further on the case.

Stan, who sometimes shares the camp with a friend, said he had been homeless for five years after losing his job and did not like living in the nature reserve.

"I came here to work with a normal life," he said. "I need the stability."

He said he wanted "a job, a room, house. Normal. Not too much."

Local councillors Mashook Ali and Lorraine Yeadon are calling on North Lincolnshire Council to help find Stan suitable accommodation and clean up the reserve.

Yeadon said: "Behind us, it's an encampment. It's just absolutely full of rubbish.

"Sometimes they [Stan and his friend] do make quite a lot of noise."

The men have cut down tree branches to light fires and Yeadon said residents were "frightened it could get out of control" and "it's absolutely destroyed this area of natural beauty".

"I do feel sorry for the people who haven't got proper accommodation and a job," she added. "But we are here to represent the people who live here. We've got to support them.

"People are frightened to come into the woods now."

She said she wanted the council to "clean it up, replant, look after the people who are living here, try to get them on a straight path."

Local resident Henry Devlin said: "It smells, stinks. Personally, I've not been affected, it doesn't really bother me, but my daughters won't take the dog for a walk down there now. It's intimidating, I suppose."

Elaine Parkes, who has also lived nearby for more than 30 years, said: "It's made me feel quite uncomfortable.

"The fire brigade were down last week, or the week before again, to put a fire out.

"I can't understand why he hasn't been made to move by the police or whoever, because we're always told there is no need for people to be homeless."

Anne White said: "The weather's changing and it's getting colder, it must be awful conditions they're living in.

"I do have sympathy for them, but really, there needs to be somewhere for them to be."

According to official data, there were an estimated 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single night in England in the autumn of 2025, a 96% increase in five years.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham made ending rough sleeping his first pledge when entering Downing Street in July and now says he wants "to get everyone in for Christmas".

Waltham said: "People can find themselves without a home because of poverty, trauma, abuse and circumstances most of us would struggle to imagine.

"In a tolerant community, the response should be to work together – as many people have already been doing - to support this individual – show a little kindness and help someone get the support they need, not publicly vilify them.

"Homelessness can affect people from every walk of life, including those who have spent their lives serving others and serving their country, protecting the very freedoms some abuse."

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