Homeless tourist sleeping in car park helped by Stirling residents after house was gutted by fire

A tourist sleeping in a car park in Doune after his house burned down has thanked a village for coming to his aid.

Tom Crump, 35, travelled to Scotland with his three dogs last month but has been left with nothing to return to after police from his hometown in Derbyshire called to say his home had been destroyed in a fire.

He was about to go back when his truck also broke down and he has been left stranded in Doune Ponds car park.

Despite the bad luck Tom’s spirits have been lifted by the local community who rallied around him.

The tree surgeon said: “The locals have been amazing, bringing me heaters, food, picking up my washing, bringing the dogs food and even letting me use their shower.

“I’ve been walking people’s dogs for money and I’m contacting all tree surgeon firms to see if I can get work.

“I’ve lost everything, all my possessions, the value in the property and all the improvements I had made on which I had spent £45,000 of the inheritance my dad had left me.”

Tom’s two-bed terraced house suffered so much damage in the blaze, caused by an electrical fire, that the building has been left with structural damage and is deemed unsafe.

He now cannot return to the home which he bought for £55,000 in 2017.

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He is currently in negotiations with his insurance company.

Tom, who hails from Worcester, had been enjoying spending time in Loch Lomond, Argyle and Bute and Aviemore in the Highlands.

The tree surgeon, was towed by a local from Callander, in Stirlingshire, to a car park in Doune.

He is now living there with dogs Marley, 12, Missy, nine and one-year-old Sifa.

Tom said: “It really meant a lot to me when I bought the house as I’d been homeless a few times as a child and I really thought this was going to be me getting somewhere.

“I was stuck in Callander and a local garage tried to help me out but said I’d be better coming to Doune for a specialist garage that would have the part I need.

“A local towed me here and I picked this spot because it’s just lovely.

“I’m away so haven’t been working so I’ve no money for repairs.

“So I’ve been sleeping and living in the truck along with the dogs. We all just pile in together.”

Tom said he’s has been so touched by the generosity of the Scots he has met that he now has no plans to return home to England

One local said: “Tom is a really lovely guy who has had a turn of bad luck but people who live nearby have been helping him out where we can.”

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