A homeless man with multiple health conditions who chained himself to Lancaster town hall as a protest at not being given council housing has now received a home.
Paul Fox, 61, had been sleeping outside the town hall for 18 months before he chained himself to the building in protest after allegedly being promised accommodation that never materialised, reported LancsLive.
Paul, who is known by his nickname ‘Foxy’ and has lived in Lancaster for 56 years, said he chained himself up to highlight his case and also other homeless people.
Zoe, one of Paul’s supporters, told LancsLive how campaigners had funded a hotel for Paul for five nights last week through donations, and that after the funding had run out, she took him to her house in Wigan.
Zoe, a nurse, who did not wish for her full name to be revealed owing to NHS guidelines, said Lancaster City Council ’s housing department rang him up last Tuesday and offered him accommodation, but then denied all knowledge when contacted the following day, on Wednesday.
Zoe said: “We’ve put him up for five nights in a hotel with donations, and it came to the point where we couldn’t keep the funding going, so I took him to my own house in Wigan. A council worker rang on Tuesday morning, and she said I’ve found two properties for you; one of them is where you want to go with a secure warden.
“It got to about four o'clock on Wednesday and they did not ring, so he rang them and spoke to them. They denied all knowledge and said wait, we haven’t offered a property and there isn’t one available.
"He’s got chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). He’s got a big cyst growing at the side of him as well.”
Paul then chained himself to Lancaster Town Hall in protest and pledged to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
He said: “When it’s bad weather, you get wet through and there’s nowhere to dry your clothes…it can affect your health, as it has done with me. I’m suffering from health problems now, which I attribute to sleeping on the street.
“When you’re on the street, you’ve nowhere to go; you're not eating properly…. It undermines your self, because you start thinking, well life’s not worth living. There’s people dying on the streets.”
He added: “I have been messed about; this is not just about me – this is about people sleeping in the street. The housing policy does not seem to be working.
“The council said, we have got a room for you, but it was a trick to get me off the steps of the town hall. I’m just a small part of this. I’m chained to the town hall, and I’ve been threatened; it sounds like bullying tactics.
“This is a lawful demonstration. The authorities don’t seem to like our demonstration.
“The council are failing in their duty, and it’s nationwide; it’s not just Lancaster. I’m willing to sit here forever, as when you commit to something, you have got to go for it.”
However, within hours of Paul complaining about his situation during a live interview with LancsLive on Facebook, campaigners then said he was contacted by the city council and received the keys to a flat in a secure complex with a warden in Lancaster.
Zoe added: “We are over the moon - this is fantastic news. He got the keys just after 4pm on Friday to a flat in a complex where there is a warden, so it is secure. But he wants to carry on the campaign; he’s got the fighting spirit in him.”
A spokesperson for Lancaster City Council said on Friday morning: “The city council is committed to ensuring that no one has to sleep on the streets. At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, we were able to ensure that all known rough sleepers were given access to self-contained accommodation. We continue to offer accommodation to anyone who is sleeping rough.
“In relation to this particular case, a tenancy was provided during the pandemic, but he decided to leave. He has since been offered alternative accommodation on a number of occasions, including just this morning (Thursday March 10) and he has refused. We will continue to engage with him in an effort to bring him in off the streets and into suitable accommodation.”
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “Our most recent statistics show that the numbers of rough sleepers have fallen in every region of England, taking levels to an eight-year low overall.
“We remain committed to ending rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament, which is why we’ve given councils £2 billion over the next three years to build on the success of the Homelessness Reduction Act.”
The Mirror has contacted Lancaster City Council for a comment.
