A MAN said he feels like a "sick joke" after spending two months living in his car.

Richard Miner, 39, keeps all his possessions on the back seat of the red Citroen ZX, shaves in the rear-view mirror and sleeps on the driver's seat every night wrapped in a waterproof smock.

Mr Miner, who is unemployed and living on benefits, said he was made homeless after being evicted from a flat in Womersley, near Selby, North Yorkshire because of non-payment of rent.

He applied to City of York Council for accommodation but was turned down because he does not meet the right criteria.

Mr Miner initially slept rough in disused sheds and allotments across York, before raising enough money to buy the Citroen.

He parks up in excluded laybys and supermarket forecourts across the city at night and uses cafe toilets to wash in.

"This is literally survival for me," he said. "I find this whole situation really embarrassing - I feel like I'm a bit of a sick joke.

"I made three rules for myself - I won't beg, borrow or steal. All I want is a roof over my head. I want to start working and get my life back.

A council spokeswoman said the authority helped him to access homeless services, and he stayed at two homeless shelters, but was asked to leave because of his behaviour.

"He has also been excluded from other services in the city as a result of several incidents of violence," said the spokeswoman.

Mr Miner denied he had ever been violent.