THE landlord of a Chepstow pub has received praise after taking in a homeless man in last week’s cold conditions.

Dave Foxford-Brown, who with his wife Lisa, pictured, owns the Coach and Horses pub in Chepstow, hosted well-known Chepstow man Paddy in the snowy conditions last week.

Mr Foxford-Brown had seven cancelled bed and breakfast rooms, and opened up the Coach and Horses for the homeless. Paddy, who currently lives in a tent in Bulwark, accepted the offer and stayed at the pub from last Thursday night (1st March) until he left on Monday (5th March).

And having worked with Chepstow-based homelessness charity Street Life Sarnies (SLS) as a collection point for a number of years, he is more aware than most of the reality of being without a home.

“Years ago when I left the forces I was homeless for a bit, so I know how it feels,” he said.

“An empty room is pointless, I’ve still got to heat the rooms because the pipes will freeze. We had seven cancelled rooms due to the snow, so we were happy to help.

“What’s nice is the comments and feedback, we were absolutely packed on Saturday and had so much support from people.”

In addition to the accommodation, locals at the pub also clubbed together to pay for food and hot drinks.

“We wanted him to stay a little longer,” Mr Foxford-Brown adds. “We offered to bring his tent out to the back so it could dry out.

“He’s very proud, and he left yesterday.”

In a post on social media Claire Day, who runs the charity SLS, thanked those who had offered their support.

“Huge shout out to the wonderful people of Chepstow- working so hard to help those in need,” she wrote.

“Thank you to the Coach and Horses offering a place to stay for a local homeless guest since Thursday.”

Also helping the effort was Nicky Mogridge who runs the First Class Cafe by Chepstow station, who offered a free hot meal to anyone who needed it last week. The cafe regularly provides support to the homeless community in the town.