A homeless couple living in a tent on a green in Burton destroyed in a mystery blaze have told how they were dealt a new blow when bailiffs arrived ordering them to leave.
Christina and Anthony, who did not wish to reveal their surnames, have told their story and say they have been sleeping rough on the streets for more than three years.
They say they have been living in a tent in Horninglow since the beginning of June, but on June 19 their tent was burned down in a mystery fire.
The police launched an investigation into the incident.
Locals headed by Burton Hope, a group of volunteers which helps homeless people, stepped in and gave the devastated pair a new tent and possessions, which they lost in the fire
Now the couple have told how bailiffs arrived to remove them from the land which is owned by Horninglow and Eton Parish Council.
The couple say they are now living in their tent on land elsewhere in the area after being told to move on.
The matter was raised at the latest meeting of the parish council when the couple and John Anderson, chairman of Burton Hope, attended.
Mr Anderson told of his shock that the bailiffs were called in, saying the pair were down on their luck and needed help.
Now Christina, 38, and Anthony, 40 have told their story to the Burton Mail about their lives and what has happened to them.
They have told how things were so bad in winter they had to sleep under an umbrella in an alleyway because they did not have a even tent.
The cold weather at nights means the couple are permanently ill with colds, and have aches and pains throughout the year - even in the summer temperatures can drop to just 10C after dark, they said.
Homelessness is something that people rarely see coming and Christina and Anthony were no exception, they said.
Growing up, Anthony wanted to be a car mechanic, even enrolling on a course when he was in college.
He never got to work as a mechanic though as the garage he was training at closed down during his course and he did not ever complete it.
Meanwhile, Christina used to volunteered as a carer in Burton, as she had always been interested pursuing a career in caring for the elderly, they said.
But being unemployed and other issues they ends up on the streets. They both say they have had drugs problems many years ago but do not take them now.
The couple have said many residents have been good to them, saying hello or giving them food and clothing as they passed by while they had been living on Horninglow Green.
They also said they had experienced very little trouble as they spent their days sitting on the grass beside their tent, and even when they had, it was often just people shouting things at them from their cars.
When their tent burned down and they lost everything they owned including their clothes, sleeping bags and even tins of food that had been given to them by Anthony's best friend, who has recently died.
The couple were not in the tent during the fire, but Christina had just left a few minutes before to go to the chemist. She said, when she found out, she burst into tears, knowing that they had nothing left.
She said: "I was told by one of our friends who came up to me and said 'your tent's on fire', and I just burst into tears there and then.
"I just don't understand why people do things like this. We might be homeless but we're still people."
Quickly after the fire, kind neighbours rallied around to help the couple and within 20 minutes, a new tent had been given to them.
New food, clothes, sleeping bags and more were delivered over the next few days and the pair tried to return to normal.
They were then dealt another blow, when on Monday, July 9, bailiffs arrived.
The couple were devastated when they arrived back to the area to find their belongings had all been taken away.
Luckily volunteers from Burton Hope had stepped in to get their possessions back.
All the pair want is to have somewhere to call home and to live a normal life, just like anybody else, they say.
Anthony said: "We're not bad people. We don't leave rubbish everywhere or pee in bushes like people have been saying.
"We always say hello to people and we are friendly."
Christina added: "One day I would love to have my own home with Anthony. We want to do things together and spend time together snuggled up on the sofa watching telly like other couples can.
"We don't want to sleep in a tent forever. But we need help to get out of this situation we're in."
This is happened at the parish council meeting
The couple went to a meeting at Horninglow and Eton Parish Council to speak to councillors.
They were joined by chairman of Burton Hope, John Anderson, who told the meeting: "The poor couple got a lot of flack when a cowardly resident, who chose to remain anonymous, complained about their tent.
"This culminated in their tent being burned to the ground. They lost many personal possessions in the tent fire - it's just lucky they weren't in it.
"I met the bailiffs, commissioned by this parish council, who were taking what was left of their worldly goods away to put in a skip.
Homelessness in the UK
The Government reported that between July 1 and September 30, 2017, there were 15,290 households registered as being homeless across local governments.
The term homelessness refers to anybody who does not have a permanent home. This can include people living in temporary accommodation, sofa-surfing, squatters or rough sleepers.
It can be difficult to get an accurate report of how many people in the UK are sleeping rough, but each year the government carries out a count on a single night to determine this figure.
The last count was carried out in August 2016, and reported that there were 4,751 people rough sleeping in the UK. However, many homeless charities believe this figure to be much higher.
"I am shocked that Horninglow and Eton Parish Council could do thisto two human beings from Horninglow that are down on the luck. They needed help."
Parish and borough councillor for the area, Deneice Florence-Jukes, said at the meeting that she had not been part of the decision to remove the pair and that she did not agree with what had happened.
She said: "I am deeply saddened by the decision made by the Horninglow and Eton Parish Council to instigate legal proceedings against a couple who find themselves in the desperate circumstance of being homeless.
"The eviction action has only resulted in the situation being displaced but not solved, Christina and Anthony continue to be homeless only 100 metres further up the road.
"What is needed is practicality teamed with compassion. The outcome we must all be striving for is that Christina and Anthony and the many others who are homeless and sleeping rough on the streets of our borough are able to secure the basic human need of housing."
She said she would be lobbying East Staffordshire Borough Council for help for the couple.
She went on to say: "According to Government figures rough sleeping continues to rise and is nothing short of a national scandal."
At the meeting chairman Craig Jones said Mr Anderson's questions would be answered by email because of the complexity of the issue.
After the meeting a spokeswoman for the parish council told the Burton Mail councillors had spoken to local residents and taken their opinions on board when trying to resolve the situation.
She said: "We have taken on board the opinions of local residents and we have also worked with various local agencies who can assist them to try to resolve the situation.
"The Horninglow Green is an open space landscaped with grass, trees and shrubs for all residents to enjoy."
Andy Horsnail, operations manager at YMCA Burton, said: "The issues of homelessness in Burton are the same across the nation and the government need to realise that rough sleeping is a national crisis.
"It can no longer be ignored and we urgently need practical support and long-term investment to help end it."
