Hollywood moviemakers have bought up the amazing story of a former Bradford University student who has lived at an international airport for the past 15 years.

Iranian refugee Merhan Karimi has been based in Terminal One at Charles De Gaulle in Paris since 1988.

He studied as a post-graduate at Bradford in the late 70s and but left after a year after failing his exams.

He went back to Iran but had to leave because of his anti-government views. He eventually ended up at the French airport.

He is free to move on to any country except Britain, but his friends fear he could not cope after so long inside the airport.

He has been surviving on donations and a diet of fast food. He shaves and washes in the passenger facilities and takes his clothes to the dry cleaner in the airport building.

Movie bosses have reportedly paid around £275,000 for the rights to the story, but they deny the film, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta Jones, is about Mr Karami.

In the movie Tom Hanks turns into a refugee when, en route to New York, a coup rocks his homeland in Eastern Europe.

He ends up trapped at JFK airport with a useless passport, unable to enter the USA. He spends his time in the international lounge. Catherine Zeta Jones provides a love interest.

A DreamWorks spokes person said, "The story is an original one and has been written by several writers. It is not based on this man. There is no connection at all." He said the decision to buy the rights was to prevent Mr Karami later claiming the film is based on him.