A HOMELESS man who has been living in a caravan in a Blackburn lay-by has been told to move on, or face court.

Philip Holdstock has been staying in his caravan at Greenbank Terrace since May 14, but last week he received a notice from Blackburn with Darwen Council asking him to remove his caravan from the lay-by.

The notice said that he was parking the caravan illegally and was trespassing on council-owned land.

He was informed that if he did not move from the lay-by within 14 days of the notice, which he said he received on July 12, court action would follow.

But Mr Holdstock, who has been trying to find accommodation through Twin Valley's B-with-us housing scheme, said he would be homeless and said no-one was helping him find a home.

He works for Portable Conveniences (Darwen) and moved his caravan to the lay-by because it was close to work. He said: "I've been living there since May, so why have they only asked me to move now? It's not on. Giving me 14 days to find something else is not long enough.

"I just came home one day and the letter was stuck to the caravan door. I don't seem to be getting any help in finding a house to live in, and it's more difficult because I have a dog as well and a lot of places won't allow animals."

Mr Holdstock said he had always lived in caravans "here and there", and said he was unable to stay in a local caravan park because they are all full.

Linda Comstive, director of legal and democratic services, said: "Mr Holdstock has parked a caravan illegally on Greenbank Terrace lay-by and has been given 14 days to give us his proposals to remove it."

Twin Valley confirmed that Mr Holdstock was a member of the B-with-us lettings service, and had expressed an interest in ten houses so far since he joined in May.

Two have still not been decided on, seven were offered to people with longer membership than his, and one was offered to someone with higher priority membership.

Mr Holdstock has also been advised to contact the council's housing needs team at Jubilee House to find out if he could also benefit from priority membership.