Meet Shane, the homeless man who's lived for a year on an island at Milton Keynes lake

Shane DaSilva Anderson, who is 38, says he is so hidden that the authorities have forgotten about him and he fears he faces another winter of extreme cold and damp.

You can view his unusual ‘home’ in this video here.

"I want people to know how I’m living,” he told the Citizen. “It’s been more than a year now. I’ve tried and tried with the council but nobody has even contacted me for the past six months.”

“I don’t drink, I don’t take drugs and I can barely afford to smoke. But I do have mental health problems and they are getting harder and harder to cope with.

"If this carries on, I just know that one day I won’t wake up in the morning. I’ll do something extreme...I just can’t take much more.”

Shane, a former stage designer in theatres, moved to MK from Ireland 13 years ago. His problems began when his private landlord put his rent up by £150, meaning he was paying £795 a month for a bedsit.

He presented to MK City Council as homeless, but as a single man, realised he would not be a priority for permanent housing.

He was offered a temporary place at the city’s homeless shelter but could not cope there.

"I just couldn’t do it. My mental health problems mean I find it hard to be with other people. I was sharing space with alcoholics and drug users… I spent all night sitting outside on the steps,” he said.

Shane then took matters into his own hands and discovered his island, a well-hidden patch of land between two local lakes and accessible by footbridges.

He sawed up wood from the trees to make a frame, which he covered with tarpaulins.

"It’s windproof and it keeps the rain out… I sleep on bare dirt,” he said.

“My day consists of collecting wood for the fire, doing a bit of maintenance of the land around me and walking to the local shop for junk food. I mainly live off biscuits but treat myself once a week to fish and chips.

"I keep myself to myself and I don’t see anyone.”

Shane is under the city’s mental health team and his GP and psychiatrist have sent letters to the council asking that he be given accommodation to keep him stable.

"The council just seems to be ignoring me. All I want is a place of my own,” he said.

His case is complicated because, for mental health reasons, Shane says he cannot live in a house of multiple occupancy (HMO). Because he’s refused this, he fears the council has labelled him ‘intentionally homeless’.

"But nobody from the council’s sleeping rough team has ever been out to assess how I’m living,” he said.

The Citizen asked MK City Council what it planned to do..

A spokesperson said: “We’re aware of this individual and have offered support and accommodation on multiple occasions. While help has been refused repeatedly, we don’t give up on anyone and will continue to make attempts to reach out.”

Shane disputes that he has ever been offered a home.