BAILIFFS have evicted a homeless man who transformed the signal box where he was sleeping rough into a comfortable home.

Simon Coomer, 37, was told to leave the old Troy station at Monmouth yesterday.

He has been living in an abandoned signal box for the past two and a half years, transforming it from a derelict shack into a cosy home.

He installed new windows with shutters, a shower, bed and water butt, felted the roof, cleared up the rubbish outside and planted flowers.

But the property, which has no toilet, was deemed unfit for human habitation by Monmouthshire county council's planning authority.

Newport county court served an eviction notice on Mr Coomer in September.

Bailiffs, acting on behalf of the landowner Robert Davies boarded up the signal box and told Mr Coomer he had been formally evicted from the property.

Mr Coomer told the Argus he was not allowed to enter the signal box to retrieve his possessions and now only has the clothes he is wearing and a carrier bag of shopping.

He said: "I arrived home at lunchtime to find the bailiffs pulling the doors off my house and boarding it up.

"It's really cold out here and they have taken someone who had a roof over their head, a bed and a fire and given them a park bench instead.

"The council has said I cannot live in that house because it is unfit for human habitation and their answer is to put me out on the streets."

Landowner, Robert Davies, a solicitor in Gold Tops, Newport, previously told the Argus he reluctantly issued an eviction notice after the planning authority threatened to serve enforcement proceedings.

Mr Davies said: " Simon entered my land without my knowledge or permission and utilised the signal box as his home. He was a squatter.

"I became aware of the matter when Monmouthshire county council, following complaints from residents, informed me of his presence.

"I was subsequently required by Monmouthshire county council to secure his removal so as to avoid proceedings being brought against me by the council.