A COUPLE driven to live rough under canvas have come under fire from nearby homeowners.

Jonathan Delves and Nita Lambert have been living in a small three-person tent in Lawns Park since January - setting up camp near Christ Church cemetery.

The couple were forced to live under canvas after losing a parent’s home and finding a succession of shared houses unsuitable.

“We just live day by day at the moment,” said Jonathan.

The 51-year-old former lorry driver, who ferried goods as far afield as Newcastle and Cornwall, said that they had been visited by council-backed charity Threshold Housing Link, which supports homeless people.

“Threshold are doing their darndest,” Jonathan said.

“They’ve [the council] turned round to us and said the option we’ve got is to move up north, because there’s a lot more social housing up there.

“We’re willing to do it, but unfortunately at the moment it’s not an option. My father’s in Swindon, but he’s got Alzheimer’s and I don’t want to move to the other end of the country [when he’s ill].”

Partner Nita, 46, added: “All we want is a one bed little apartment, just so we can get on with our lives. Somewhere with a flushing toilet and somewhere I can cook.”

They said some local residents had been very supportive, bringing gifts of food, blankets and batteries.

Jonathan said: “The way we look at it we’re lucky. There are an awful lot of homeless people in Swindon who are a lot more worse off than us.”

But living rough had taken its toll on the couple, with muscle wastage leaving them struggling to move.

“We can hardly walk,” said Jonathan.

Nita said: “When we were in the first tent in January there was ice. If it was cold in the tent, it was even colder outside.”

Some residents in nearby Parklands Road, which overlooks the Lawns, expressed concern about rough sleeping in the park.

A larger group of younger campers – including three nicknamed “the musketeers” - were moved from the Lawns just before the Old Town Festival in July, one resident said.

A mum-of-two, who did not want to be named, said: “They’re camping opposite a school. This is not a campsite. They should be moved on.

“What they’re doing isn’t legal. I have to pay a lot of money in council tax to live here. I’m fairly sure if I stopped paying, the council would be round.”

Another resident on Parklands Road said: “I’m concerned that it [rough sleeping in the park] is going to increase. I can’t understand why the police haven’t moved them on.

“I do feel desperately sorry for them. It’s just hard that anybody has to live like that.”

The woman, 73, who has lived on the road for four decades, said that there had been problems with other rough sleepers in previous years.

“When they left there were syringes and other drug paraphernalia,” she said.

Residents said that the issue had been reported to the council.

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “Council officers work closely with Wiltshire Police to ensure that homeless people in parks are closely monitored.

“When encountered, they are offered suitable words of advice about keeping the area clean and tidy.

“We are monitoring the situation along with the police.”