FRIENDS of an elderly Bolton "down and out" whose body was found on spare land have hit out at "a community that didn't care".

Stanley Pardon was known as The Wheelbarrow Man by the people who saw him regularly walking the streets of Bolton town centre.

He was found dead - from natural causes - by a man walking a dog on spare land off Folds Road, Bolton, two weeks ago.

Now, two people who would often stop to speak to the homeless man and give him help, have paid a poignant tribute.

One said: "He had been on the streets for years. Stanley was well into his 70s, yet was living a hard life out there.

"He would pick discarded bits of food out of skips and bins, and survived on the scrap he collected in his barrow.

"But despite having next to nothing, he was still generous with the very little he had.

"I remember walking alongside him when another homeless man asked him for help and he dug deep in his pocket and handed over his last few pennies.

"But he lived in a community that didn't care. All he needed was a good bath, but there was nowhere for him to go."

Another friend, Elizabeth Lilley, of Higher Bridge Street, even wrote a poem called "A Tribute to Stanley". It included the lines:

"There was a little old man, who trekked our streets

And his barrow was filled with scrap

His face was dirty, his clothes were torn

But he was really a lovely old chap

He didn't draw anything from the State

He said they wouldn't give him any

But he was happy in his own little way

Didn't care if he'd a pound or a penny."

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