A HOMELESS man has been taken under the wing of residents and businesses near the city’s Cathedral.

Andrew Mince, aged 36, is living in a tent on the grass beneath a fir tree at college yard in College Street, Worcester. Amid fresh snowfall, he said he was “happy” with where he was and liked being a free agent.

“I wake up in the morning and I’ve got the robin in the tree, and there’s this great architecture of the Cathedral.” Mr Mince, once of Teme Crescent, Droitwich, also thanked passers-by and office workers who had been bringing him hot drinks.

“They’ve been really good to me,” said the former landscape gardener. “If I’m in the way I’ll move on but nobody has said anything.”

In an example of Christmas spirit a kind-hearted stranger left a gift-wrapped present reading: ‘To the chap who lives under the tree.’ Mr Mince, who has a twin brother from Droitwich, said he had just decided to travel after getting divorced and then “sofa surfing”, having ended up in Tenerife, then returning to Worcestershire last year. But he is now “getting a bit bored” and plans for a new start next year and wants to start a business.

Staff at the cathedral office, solicitors Harrison Clark, accountancy firm Rabjohns and Bygones Antiques have all been popping across to the tent with a regular flow of hot drinks. He is also welcome to stop in the Cathedral in daytime but hasn’t taken up the offer. The Cathedral owns College Yard.

During the snow at the very end of November, when temperatures plummeted to -9C he was sleeping wrapped in a few bedrolls.

But he was given a new one-man tent and an antiques shop customer got him a bedroll. The location is just around the corner from the night assessment centre at Maggs Day Centre, Deansway, where homeless people can often get a meal and a roof for the night.

Chris Ashcroft, of St Paul’s Hostel – which manages the night shelter, said the man had been in to see them recently.

“He’s been in but said he’s ok where he is at the moment,” he said. “He’s not off the radar and can come in whenever he wants.”