A HOMELESS man has been ousted from a village after the bus shelter he sleeps in was boarded up.
The presence of 29-year-old Bobby Andrews, who escaped Chelmsford to avoid the "nasty people", has divided opinion in Roxwell. Some residents supplied him with Thermos flasks of tea and lunchboxes of chilli but others claimed he needed a "tough love" approach to overcome his addiction to drugs and alcohol.
But it appears those pushing for stricter measures have won the day, as "planned refurbishments" of the bus shelter forced Bobby from his temporary home.
His fate appears to have been sealed at an emergency meeting held at St Michael and All Angels Church in the village on Sunday, February 17.
Resident Steve Hanson, whose wife attended the meeting, told the Chronicle that the village had decided to board up the bus shelter to "force him to go elsewhere".
He said: "Although I didn't manage to attend the meeting myself I did hear that they're blocking up the bus stop to force him to go elsewhere."
Bobby arrived in Roxwell last February when Steve and his wife Debbie, a Christian couple, took him into their home after he walked into their church in the city centre during last winter's snowfall.
But the father-of-three was forced to tell him to leave when he brought drugs into the home he shares with his wife and young daughters.
Mr Hanson said: "We've spent the last year trying to provide for him but it hasn't worked, even now I think some people are bringing him food and he'll never leave if that carries on.
"He needs the challenge of looking after himself, so I think tough love may be the answer."
Around 70 residents attended the emergency meeting at the parish church to work out the best way to help the young addict.
Rev Karen Best, who has previously allowed Bobby to sleep in the church, said: "The meeting was a means of discussing his situation but also that of a wider problem with homelessness and how to help.
"Some people feel a real empathy for him and others are concerned about youngsters or elderly people.
"It is ultimately Bobby's choice whether he decides to move on or not and we're praying he makes the right one."
But she denied that the boarding up of the bus shelter on The Street, Roxwell, was to encourage Bobby to move on.
"The refurbishment to the bus stop has been planned for a while and it isn't anything to do with Bobby," she said. "It's just a coincidence that this is all going on."
But some residents have been incensed at the "eye-sore" on the village's main street, reportedly littered with rubbish, pills, cigarettes and alcohol.
One woman, who lives on the main road but did not want to be named, said: "It's getting to the point where people aren't using the buses and children are standing at a distance to keep away from him.
"He leaves his rubbish everywhere and the smell is terrible."
Dennis Revell, head of the Neighbourhood Watch, disagreed: "If Bobby was abusive it would be a different matter.
"But as far as I know he hasn't done anything of the sort, although I know him being there makes people awkward.
"It's a difficult call what the best thing to do is. If staying longer would help him then I'm fine with it, but it isn't clear what's best."
Roxwell Parish Council chairman Chris Pavitt was asked several times for a comment on the situation but refused.
Bobby, who has always refused assistance from the authorities, has now accepted help from charity CHESS, which supports homeless people in Chelmsford.
It was somewhere he told the Chronicle he vowed to stay away from because he had been bullied and was worried about the temptation of drugs and alcohol from others in similar situations.
But he has now been allocated a temporary room.
CHESS operations manager Rob Saggs said: "Rooms are allocated on a daily basis but for now Bobby is staying in a facility in the city.
"I think the Roxwell predicament has been so interesting and I think with benefits being cut it may be a dilemma faced by far more villages in the future.
"The best thing however is always to let professionals deal with the issue."
