A HANDFUL of caring villagers have taken a homeless man to their heart after he left the city to kick his drink and drug addiction.
Some residents in Roxwell are plying 29-year-old Bobby Andrews with lunchboxes of chilli and Thermos flasks of steaming hot tea, after he escaped Chelmsford to beat "the nasty people".
But the presence of the recovering addict, who is sleeping rough in a bus stop, has angered other villagers, who claim he needs a "tough love" approach to beat drugs.
"We're trying to do both but it's Bobby who has a choice," said the vicar, the Rev Karen Best, who had let him sleep in the village church.
Bobby, who has been treated by paramedics twice in the past few weeks, arrived in Roxwell last February when a Christian couple took him into their home.
But father-of-three Steve Hanson was forced to tell him to leave when he brought drugs into the home he shares with his wife, Debbie, and three young daughters.
"If people continue to help him by giving him food he will just sit there and happily take it," he said.
"But if the village wants him out then the only way to help him is tough love so that he is forced to go back to social services and accept their support."
Mr Hanson, a mime artist who tours the country with his "mime ministry", took Bobby into his home after he visited their church, Life Church off Moulsham Street in Chelmsford city centre, during last winter's heavy snowfall.
"We thought 'how can we walk out of church knowing this guy has got nothing to do but go out in the snow and cold?'," said Steve. "So we invited him home for Sunday roast but then we thought 'can we just put him back out on the streets?'
"We did but we felt awful about it so we actually went out looking for him but couldn't find him.
"Later we heard he'd collapsed in the snow and was taken to hospital.
"We eventually found him at Nicole's café, which helps the homeless, and invited him to come and stay on the rules we set, which was that he didn't bring drink or drugs into our home.
"We could tell that Bobby was very gentle and harmless, so we thought we'd keep a close eye on him and see how he does."
Steve claims Bobby soon broke their golden rule and brought drugs into the house, something wife Debbie verified with Essex drugs charity Open Road.
But they gave him another chance and even took him on holiday to Elim Bible Week in Telford.
"I was away but my wife took him to stay with them and my mother-in-law in the Lake District but he went out and got blind drunk and really abusive, so Debbie had no choice but to put him on a bus back," said Steve, who also took Bobby in on Christmas Day.
"Bobby picked Roxwell to stay away from the 'nasty people' because he was getting picked on and bullied in Chelmsford.
"But we've had to put our foot down which is really hard and we've told the police to tell him to stay away.
"My wife Debbie has put in so many hours into trying to help Bobby turn his life around whilst trying to hold down her full-time job and care for a family.
"Many people in the village are against us now because they blame us for bringing him here, but if they continue to help him the problem will not go away."
Steve says his wife even helped Bobby save £1,000 from his benefits to put towards three months' rent to help him get on his feet, but no landlord would take him because he did not have a regular income.
"People on benefits are going to find it harder and harder to get homes so this homeless problem is just going to spiral out of control," said Steve.
After being told to leave, Bobby slept in the village church, St Michael & All Angels, but the church council took the decision to lock its doors and take him to a night shelter. However, he soon made his way back to the village and the Rev Best said it was a dilemma over whether they should continue to help Bobby or give him the "tough love" that others say he needs.
"We have offered a Christian, compassionate and loving response to Bobby as a homeless person, but we could only ever offer him a partial solution to his difficulties", she said.
"We have tried to manage the balance between helping and assisting him and encouraging him to look at a more permanent housing arrangement.
"Bobby has chosen to remain in the bus shelter and not to return to the night shelter in Chelmsford, where he would find food, shelter and somewhere dry and warm to sleep.
"He tells us that he prefers the quietness of the village.
"Currently, the church is locked. This was a decision taken by the PCC, in order to encourage Bobby to work towards a permanent resolution to his homelessness, and because the church building is not set up to support one person for night shelter. The needs of the whole parish were considered in reaching this decision.
"I want to encourage Bobby to find his independence and to enjoy living in his own home, and so we continue to offer him the help that we can, with the resources and skills that we have and at the same time encourage him to work with the professional homelessness agencies.
"We hope that our collaboration with support workers and others will bring a positive solution for Bobby. "
Bobby, who admits to battling drink and addiction to heroin and cannabis, is originally from Cambridge. He said he moved to Chelmsford to go to rehab, although he admitted "that didn't work".
But he says he has chosen Roxwell because it is "nice and peaceful", claiming he wanted to stay away from the Chess homeless shelter in the city centre.
"I'm trying to stay away from the drink and drugs and the nasty people," he said.
