A YOUNG man has criticised a homeless hostel in Chippenham where he spent two months, claiming it did the ‘opposite’ of helping him and treated him ‘awfully’.

Trent Akrigg moved into Unity House, on Wood Lane, before Christmas as he looked for work, while he tried to find accommodation of his own.

On March 1, the day heavy snow hit Wiltshire, the 22-year-old went to see his partner in Trowbridge and agreed with the Unity House manager that a fellow resident would look after his dog Roofus, a German Shepherd/mastiff/Alaskan Malamute, for the day.

Several hours after leaving, he got a call from a staff member saying she would call the RSPCA and report him for not looking after his dog properly.

After protesting that he could not return home until the next day, as the snow was getting heavier, he was told that the staff member had called the police and that he should not come back to the hostel until Monday, March 5.

“This is not the way a place like this, that does a lot of good work, should treat the people who stay there, so I decided to leave,” said Mr Akrigg.

“I came to Unity House after having a lot to deal with personally and then this happens. This is the opposite of what they are supposed to do.

“It was going really well and then out of nowhere this happened. I got my things on the Monday and left to stay with my partner in Trowbridge.

“I remember specifically agreeing with the manager that it was okay to leave Roofus with a resident i was good friends with. Then I get this call from another staff member saying the opposite.

“They knew how desperate I was to stay there and for them to just disregard me and Roofus like we aren’t anything, without even checking up on us, is awful.”

Mr Akrigg is not in touch with his mother and his dad died three years ago.

Unity House housing manager Hywel Watkins said: “Whilst I am unable to discuss individuals’ details, in this particular instance I can assure you that Bournemouth Churches Housing Association works closely alongside Wiltshire Council and Wiltshire Housing Options Team in providing support and making decisions that directly affect those we support.

“Where necessary we also liaise closely with the police, emergency services and any other supporting agency such as the RSPCA.”