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A war veteran has revealed how he preferred living on the streets in a tent because he couldn't bear to be inside.

Alan, an Iraqi war veteran, suffers from crippling PTSD and claustrophobia after returning home from war zones.

When he returned home from the Iraq war he couldn’t settle and ended up drifting around the UK and living in a tent in Cardiff city centre opposite City Hall.

In heartbreaking footage, his story, along with many others, is being told in BBC documentary Cardiff: Living on the Streets, Wales Online reports.

In the programme, filmed in the autumn, Alan and two friends find that the tent they called home had been vandalised and their possessions ransacked.

(Image: BBC) (Image: BBC)

“There was a big gash in it and someone has spray painted it,” said Alan.

“It could be anybody. Jealousy or someone who doesn’t like the homeless.

“It is like burglary – you feel violated.”

Alan (which is not his real name) grew up in Telford and is in his mid-40s. As a young man he had joined the French Foreign Legion and fought in Iraq.

He said: “Watching missiles go overhead not knowing where they are coming down – I must admit it was very scary. I wet the bed three nights on the trot I was that scared.”

(Image: BBC) (Image: BBC)

Returned to Telford, he realised he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and actually preferred life on the street.

“I couldn’t settle,” he said. “I couldn’t stay in four walls, I would get claustrophobic.

"Because I couldn’t handle those four walls I became homeless. At first I felt more comfortable on the street than I did off it.”

The documentary was made by filmmakers Chris Rushton and Angharad Arnold.

(Image: BBC)

According to Chris, Alan has now found permanent accommodation.

He said: “There were tents all over Cardiff in the summer. We were looking around and went over to talk to Alan who had just had his tent slashed.

“We were interested in how someone who had done all these things could be on the streets. He couldn’t bear being inside.

"He felt that he didn’t have the support as he had been in the French Foreign Legion following his boyhood dream. It is great news to hear that he has settled down.”

The documentary attempts to shine a light on issues of homelessness by telling people’s heartbreaking stories.

One of these is Jordan from Glynneath who went off the rails as a teenager before ending up in the care system. Since a family break-up he’s been on his own and has become used to living on the streets.

Jordan said: “It is starting to get grim, places to sleep are starting to get thin. Numbers go up because Christmas is coming so it is going to be a stretch.”

(Image: BBC)

Footage shows Jordan sleeping in a doorway of the Motorpoint Arena to shelter from the wind.

He said: “I just want to get off the street now to be honest with you. I am 35 as well. I am not saying I can’t cope with the street, because I can. I am just trying to get my life back on track.”

Another insight in the documentary is what it is like inside a homeless shelter. The filmmakers meet Richard in the Huggard Centre.

Richard told them: “They make lovely coffee- fair dos. Pippa makes the best coffee and I love it.

“It is 6x6, but you know what – you are not wet – I can’t fault it. I have my hat which is my tea cosy.”

Richard suffers from ADHD. He said: “My behaviour is stupid. Shouting out, making silly noises and headbutting windows. To go to sleep I have to take a sedative.”

According to Chris mental health problems are not uncommon.

He said: “I think if people on the streets don’t have mental health problems in the beginning, they do have by the end.”

Cardiff: Living on the Streets will be shown on BBC One Wales on Monday, at 10.40pm.