A MAN who was homeless for 15 years has built a make-shift house on a busy A-road – and refuses to be evicted.
Digger Down resides in Tower Hamlets, London, with his partner in a crafted shack, decked out with oak floors, electricity and a stove.
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He was able to put the homely creation together using materials found in skips, using old pallets, and anything else he could find that would make a nice addition.
But Digger has been warned by Tranpsort for London (TfL), which owns the land on the Bow Flyover.
He said he’s living with the constant threat of being forced out of his home and starting from scratch.
Digger told MyLondon: “Living like this you never know, you could be evicted tomorrow. You have it in mind that this might not be here, you might be starting all over again.
“Most people say they’ve never seen a homeless person do stuff like this. I turned up here with a sleeping bag. Day two, I was on a couple of palettes, day three I had a bed and day four it was something else – then it was what you see today.
“It’s pointless moving me because I’d just do the same over the road and next time I’d do it differently.”
Digger was warned by charity workers the transport agency wants to evict him and he’s already spotted officials nosing around with clipboards.
TfL have urged him to leave because the space is unsafe to live in and blocks the highway.
If he remains where he is, he’s at threat of legal implications.
However this won’t stop the devoted builder, who claims he will hold a protest and will flat out refuse to move.
With a bedroom on the top floor, accessible with a ladder, and the ground floor decorated as a living room, the scrap bits of material have come together to create quite a cosy shelter.
Electricity runs into the house, there is access to a toilet provided by a nearby McDonalds, and soon there will even be flowing water.
Digger, who was raised on a scrapyard in Dundee, was on the housing list and was hoping to be moved into a house in Pimlico, but unfortunately this fell through.
He did a stint in prison for a crime he said he didn’t commit, leaving in 2009 with a drug addiction and without a home.
After his release, Digger was offered accommodation in Scotland which was later taken over by drug dealers, forcing him to move back to London.
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Being multilingual with a degree in community education, the home-seeker is often involved in political activism.
He was arrested at Euston Square Gardens in 2021 after living in tunnels for 19 days while protesting against the HS2 project.
He said he went from a homeless drug addict to Just Stop Oil ringing him 100 times a day and ended up training all the activists in their tunnels.
The political activism was a way to get through his drug abuse and he made headlines for his protests.
One included him refusing to leave a pit he dug near the M25 to protest Esso.
While there are hostels and temporary accommodation, he says the times he’s stayed there often drugs are being passed around and staff are patronising.
Now that he’s clean from drugs, Digger has his fingers crossed for a flat in April.
The long-term dream is to buy a plot of land in Wales and build an ecovillage, but for now, he said he won’t be going anywhere.
A TfL spokesperson said: “We will continue to closely monitor the situation and work with partner agencies, including Tower Hamlets council, to explore all options to ensure the safety and welfare of the people currently sleeping rough there.
“This includes continuing to work with outreach partners who can help individuals access the available and appropriate support.”
The Sun has reached out to TfL for a comment.
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