Monkey Man who lost everything launches shop from his tent opposite Lidl

A homeless man who lives in a tent has used his makeshift house to start a business where he trades and sells junk he finds around the streets.

Polish national Maciej Flank, nicknamed 'Monkey Man' after his addiction to the stimulant monkey dust, has set up camp on disused land in the Burslem area of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire.

He barters with passers-by to flog everything from garden chairs, T-shirts, children's fancy dress outfits to shoes and toys to fund his drug habit, and also to buy food.

READ MORE: Furious driver storms out car and slashes speed camera van's tyre with knife

The 53-year-old says his better stock comes via donations from people who know him or a rubbish container behind a string of local businesses.

He told StokeonTrentLive: “I live a lot more humbly now, I don’t need the things I used to have. £20 or a cooked meal might mean nothing to most people but it means a lot to me.

"Sometimes people give me designer items and people get them for next to nothing because I don’t know the brands.

“I’m just happy to get by and I’m lucky that I have friends who live nearby who bring me food. It’s nice to know that people genuinely like me for me, because I don’t have much to offer them, so it’s good to know that their love for me isn’t superficial and I’m not being used for anything.

Before moving to the empty patch of land in Federation Road, Magic was swapping things out of his tent in the Dougie Mac car park from Saturday, May 1.

• 

  Jeff Bezos could be first bloke to marry in space after fiancée flashes diamond on yacht

By night, he would sleep in the footwell of Manchester Courts, according to nearby residents. He then moved to his new patch opposite Lidl.

While Magic has been offered help from homeless charities, at the moment he prefers his itinerant lifestyle which he says frees him from the stresses of modern-day life.

He said: "I quite like being free and being connected with nature. It’s nice to not have the stress of everyday life."

He previously ran a recording studio in in Market Street, Longton, before falling on hard times and splitting up with his partner of 14 years.

To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.

READ NEXT:

• Killer 'brain-eating' infection sparks alert as disease spreads throughout the US

• Murderous phoney preacher's 'house of evil' where he fathered 46 destroyed in huge blaze

• Footage shows 'mystery predator' devouring deer it killed on driveway

Source: Read Full Article