Benefits bosses back down on veteran’s claim

A WAR hero living in a tent in a friend’s garden in Leeds after being refused benefits despite serving in the army for sixteen years has been told he can claim help after bosses backed down.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th Apr 2012, 07:00 BST

John Heaps, 50, who served in The Falklands conflict, the first Gulf War and in Northern Ireland, had been told he had failed a benefits test to prove he had close ties to the UK after he had been on a two-year round-the-world cycling trip despite being born here and his whole family still living in the country.

But he has now received a phone call telling him the decision has been reversed and has now got his first payment safe in his bank account.

Mr Heaps, whose story was this week featured in the Yorkshire Post said: “It’s fantastic news and I’m really pleased.”

He recently returned from a two-year trip cycling around the world, a lifelong ambition in which he covered 23,000 miles taking in a number of countries.

He returned to the UK at the end of February and tried to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance but was told he did not qualify because he failed the Department for Work and Pension’s Habitual Residence Test.