A community has gathered to support a man in fear his home could be demolished any day.

John Patrick, who has lived at Bakers Nursery in Bakers Lane, Little Totham for more than ten years has launched a campaign to keep his home after Maldon District Council's enforcement notice, asking him to vacate the property expires on Friday December 27.

Mr Patrick, who runs a garden nursery out of the property, and lives there with his son said he is afraid he may have to move into his van if the council evict him.

The property has been at the site for 30 years.

He said: "The council is trying to make me homeless and I think that is completely wrong.

"I'm terrified, I have not slept for days because we have nowhere to go.

"Affectively this will make us homeless and jobless."

Mr Patrick launched a petition to garner support from residents to help save his home, and he has printed 20,000 flyers to raise awareness of the issue.

He added: "60 people are involved already and they have just been incredible.

"The amount of support I have had from the public and so many people are signing the petition to show the injustice that is going on."

Mr Patrick has been fighting to save his home for some time.

He has made a number of applications for lawful use, however the council has always thrown them out.

The council determined Bakers Nursery lies outside of the development boundary under its development plan.

Priti Patel, MP for Witham deemed the council's pursuit of Mr Patrick as "unreasonable", also claiming its treatment of the situation has been "inconsistent" with other planning decisions.

A letter from Mrs Patel to Paul Dodson, the council's director of strategy, performance and governance, said: "The time limits set of Mr Patrick to comply with the enforcement notice are unreasonable.

"They would require him to secure new property to live in, demolish the existing property on site and make appropriate arrangements for his business.

"Given the housing pressures, business circumstances and logistics involved the time period is not practical.

"With this in mind, I would be grateful if you could reconsider the council's decision to exercise its discretionary powers to enforce."

The Standard contacted the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

A spokesman for the ministry, said: "This case is a matter for the local authority and it would be wrong for the department to comment."

A spokesman for Maldon District Council, said: "The Council is unable to comment on individual cases of homelessness.

"However, with regards to the current enforcement proceedings, the temporary permission that existed for the retention of a caravan at the site expired on 19th July 2018 and therefore the retention of the caravan at the site after that time has been in breach of planning control. 

"Mr Patrick would have been aware of this time limit since 19th July 2017.

"An application for outline planning permission was submitted on July 12 2018 and determined on October 11 2018.

"This application related to the erection of a new dwelling at the site and not the retention of the caravan at the site. 

"The decision of Maldon District Council, in its role as the Local Planning Authority, was to refuse to grant outline planning permission. 

"Each application must be considered on its own merits and in this case direct comparison cannot be drawn from any other planning applications.

"Due to there being a breach of planning control, it was deemed expedient enforcement action to be taken and a Breach of Condition notice was duly served on October 27 2018 which requires the residential use of the land to cease, the removal of the caravan from the land and the restoration of the land to its former condition.   

"The Council does not believe that the requirements are unreasonable. 

"The Council remains committed to delivering housing in the appropriate locations and meeting its housing targets and the Council’s Housing Team is available to assist people that are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless."

To support Mr Patrick's petition, click here.