AN ELDERLY man whose home could be turned into a Gipsy site says he is living in fear after a gang of people turned up at his home to protest against the plans.

Owen Friel, 64, suffered chest pains and was taken to hospital with a suspected heart attack after he claims 30 people turned up at his Yew Tree Cottage home in Bettws, shouting abuse two weeks ago.

He now lives in fear of further reprisals and says he feels driven out of the home he has lived in with his son Eoin, 34, for the past 20 years.

Despite putting his house up for sale earlier this year, Mr Friel says he knew nothing about the plans for a Gipsy site until it was reported in the Argus.

He said he has received no correspondence from the council about the plans and has had no offer from the authority to buy the site.

He now wants to make it clear to local residents that he too is against the proposals, he said: “It’s not an anti-Gipsy thing, it’s purely because this is my home.

"We’ve spent 20 years trying to do it up and all of a sudden they are trying to do this.”

“How would you feel if it was your house?”

His son Eoin said his father no longer feels comfortable in his home and the stress of the situation had affected his health.

He said: “It’s making him ill.”

“It could have been too late the other day, he could have had a heart attack.”

Mr Friel put his home up for sale earlier this year because he wants to build a house on land he owns opposite, which is currently used by his son as a storage yard for haulage vehicles.

The authority turned down an application for a home on the land in 2006 on the grounds of unsuitable access and over development of the countryside.

Mr Friel therefore questions the suitability of the site, which can only be accessed through winding lanes, for a Gipsy camp, and says he still plans to resubmit plans for a house there.

He now fears the council could compulsory purchase the site leaving him with nowhere to go.

Newport council was unable to respond before the Argus went to press.

A Planning application submitted to the council this week proposes to subdivide land partly owned by Mr Friel and partly owned by the council, to create three pitches, which could each house a “number” of caravans.

It also plans to convert Mr Friel’s bungalow into amenity block, and build another, which would house a living room, open-plan kitchen, bathroom and utility room.

It is also proposes removing a shed, which Eoin has recently converted into a workshop.

A planning report states no new vehicle or pedestrian access would be created as traffic was not likely to increase as a result of the development, but an existing accessed would be improved.

Planning applications for sites in Nash and Marshfield are expected to be submitted shortly.