FORMER soldier Mike Buss told the police that if he was stealing charity money he wouldn't have been living in poverty.

The self-styled running man, who denies stealing cash meant for Help For Heroes. said if he had been on the take he would have paid off his debts and had a new car.

When the 41-year-old was questioned about his financial affairs he said that he was behind on his mortgage and with furniture donated by the Royal British Legion.

"I have never made £27,0000. I have got a house six months in arrears, I have got a lot of debt," a jury at Swindon Crown Court heard he had told detectives.

And he told them he had been 'on the breadline' for a number of years and had not been on holiday.

When he entered an endurance race in North Africa he said friends and family scrabbled together the entry fee of about £3,000.

"Swindon really got behind me at one stage," he said adding that some of his events were 'PR stunts'.

When officers asked him if he was taking a wage from the money coming in to his account he replied "Money from corporate, yes. Money in charity tins, no."

He explained: "It wasn't just people giving donations in there. There are businesses paying me money. There is other people paying money to buy equipment in that."

And he said he did a bit of personal training and providing nutritional advice on the side but never earned enough to bother the tax man with it.

As well as carrying out his array of running feats in the Brunel and Outlet Village he said he also organised them.

"I was effectively an events manager albeit I had to go and do the events as well so I was running everything on my own," he told officers.

And giving evidence at his trial he said that he had moved his fundraisers from the town centre mall because he said MacArthur Glen paid him to do them there.

He told the jury of five men seven women that many of the stunts he carried out were to raise awareness as he sought to become an endurance athlete.

Speaking from the witness box he said he used sponsor money to keep himself going but also to fund his charity events.

"With that sponsorship, that £4,000, I would be able to raise another £4,000 on top of that £4,000 I have already earned," he said.

The former marathon runner said as an ultra runner he had no sporting organisation to go to for support so had to raise his own cash.

Earlier DC Mike Trishaw said between October 2009 and September 2011 a total of £39,779.52p entered his bank accounts which could not be accounted for as income.

But he told the court just £17,969.98p could actually be traced as going to charity leaving a shortfall of £21,809.54p

And the court also heard records from Revenue and Customs for those two years showed his only income after he left his college job to be an army pension.

Buss, of Bara Close, Highworth, denies theft and the case continues.