Housebound pensioner Brian Milthorp found himself saddled with a lodger from hell when he offered free accommodation to anyone who would help look after him.

Mr Milthorp, 73, who is partially sighted and confined to an electric wheelchair, never dreamed of the problems he was letting himself in for when a friend placed a notice in the local post office.

A man in his late 30s answered the advert last March and Mr Milthorp said there were no problems at first, until he made it clear he wanted nothing to do with his host.

Because Mr Milthorp is confined to his wheelchair, he lives downstairs, while the lodger stayed upstairs.

Mr Milthorp said the lodger, whom he would not name, shut himself away upstairs in the three-bedroom house in Harcourt Road, Wantage, for long periods and never came down for meals.

Mr Milthorp said the man would not allow anyone to go upstairs.

Eventually he served him with an eviction notice and the man left last week, but it was only when he had gone, Mr Milthorp and his long-standing friend Peter Wooldridge discovered the horrors he had left behind.

The upper floors stank from piles of rotting rubbish and human waste, and the toilet was so filthy it had to be replaced. Mr Wooldrige, 47, from Pusey near Faringdon, said: "It was absolutely disgusting, with more than 100 empty vodka and wine bottles, and dried vomit everywhere.

"The toilet seat was broken and the pan was a hell of a mess - it was completely black.

"The kitchen drainer was all black and slimy, the carpets were stained, and there were empty drinks and takeway cartons every- where. It was absolutely disgustingIt took days to clear it up, and we filled 13 black sacks of filthy rubbish."

But when the unwanted guest finally departed, he had not completely gone, but had sneaked in through the back and was found sleeping in a children's playhouse at the bottom of the garden.

Mr Milthorp had to ring the police for help in getting the man to leave the property.

Mr Milthorp, who has carers coming in three times a day, seven days a week, suffers from a wasting disease which affects just one in five million people, and also suffered a stroke 10 years ago. He said: "He seemed all right, and I wasn't concerned about him at first.

"But I gradually started to have doubts.

"He kept himself to himself and wouldn't come and eat with me or chat with me. I wanted him to share the house but to have his own space.

"But he started speaking to me as if I was a piece of dirt, and I get upset easily because I'm so dependent on other people.

"He didn't offer me violence, only verbally.

"In the end my solicitor wrote to him giving him seven days to get out.

"My social worker didn't think I was in danger, because he turned it on whenever anyone came."