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An SAS hero of the Iranian Embassy siege has been left homeless and penniless.

SAS Sergeant Bob Curry was one of the first commandos to break into the London building where 26 hostages were being held by gunmen in 1980.

Bob, nicknamed 'Backdoor Bob'. smashed his way into the embassy with a sledgehammer after kicking away an explosive charge.

But proud Bob, now 64, fell on hard times after his business went under last year and he split from his partner of 25 years.

Bob told The Sun : "If this can happen to me it can happen to any veteran.

“And it is happening to veterans all over the country.”

Bob's local council in Hereford found him a bed in a hostel but he said he could only cope there for two nights alongside drug addicts and ex-criminals.

He spent all of December sleeping on a sofa at his daughter's house and is now living in a B&B paid for by charities.

However, that help from Royal British Legion and SAS Regimental Association will only last for 28 days.

He is still waiting to see if the council can find him permanent accommodation.

He added: “I've been in tough spots through my career but with my health now I wouldn’t have survived long on the streets — SAS training or not.

"It's hard to go cap in hand to the council and ask for help. I hated it but I had no choice.”

Bob's actions during the siege in 1980 allowed a crack squad of four SAS soldiers to enter the rear of the building in South Kensington.

(Image: Evesham Journal)

The special forces soldier, then aged 27, had to use a sledgehammer to smash through a window after an explosive failed to detonate.

He and his team then cleared the ground floor and cellar of the building while another group abseiled in through a second floor window.

Despite the risk that the device could still explode, Bob ran forward, kicked the charge out of the way, and was the first to climb inside.

All but one of the hostages were saved, while five of the six terrorists were killed.

Bob left the Army in 1985 and spent three years working for the Al Fayed family.

During this time he acted as the personal bodyguard of Dodi Al Fayed, later killed alongside Diana, Princess of Wales in a Paris car crash.

The soldier earned campaign medals for his service in Northern Ireland and the Falklands War.

In 2015 he sold those medals for more than £20,000 to raise funds as his business failed.

SAS legend Andy McNab has launched a petition calling on Herefordshire County Council to find him a permanent, suitable home. Sign it here .