Former Brexit Party candidate ‘invents’ wheelie bin contraption for homeless to sleep in

Peter Dawe, a former Brexit Party candidate for Cambridge. Photograph: Archant. Archant

A former Brexit Party candidate, multimillionaire and entrepreneur has developed a new invention using two wheelie bins which he claims will help homeless people at night.

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Peter Dawe, from Ely, is proposing a 'sleep pod' which is made of two red wheelie bins with a hinge which can be put together to enable someone to lie down.

The Brexiteer, who lost his deposit at the last election when he won just 1.9% of votes in Cambridge, last year purchased a Norfolk farm where 100 people will be able to pay to live in safety if there is an apocalypse.

The farm could cost anywhere between £10,000 and £100,000 per year per person for each person to stay there.

Dawe's latest invention, which will cost £100, was created after he discovered how "comfortable" it was while being in a bin trying to develop a prototype for a car.

"I was actually quite delighted," he told the Mirror.

"It was definitely comfier than sleeping on the ground in a tent. It was totally draught proof, in fact it's storm proof.

"It's really cosy, comfortable and dry."

The idea of inventing the 'bin pod' then came shortly after he saw homeless people on the television.

He said: "I saw on the telly rough sleepers complaining they had been kicked and pissed upon. Lying on the street in a sleeping bag, you are very vulnerable."

He added the invention has split opinion with some thinking it is a great idea and others "horrified" by the suggestion.

Social media users were angered by the attempt to cash in on the homeless.

Labour MP David Lammy tweeted: "Multi-millionaire former Brexit Party candidate telling the homeless to sleep in wheely bins. I've got a radical idea myself. How about the government provides rough sleepers with social housing instead?"

"So basically what this Brexit candidate is saying is that homeless people need to go in the bin?" asked another.

Others suggested that a tent could be a cheaper option - and might be more practical.