A landlord who has a homeless asylum seeker sleeping rough in his pub's smoking area has issued a plea to the authorities to wake up and get the man the help he needs.

Christopher McMillan, who runs the The Three Horseshoes pub in Duton Hill - a small hamlet in Essex, near Stansted Airport - said that Ahmed “presented himself” at the bar on Saturday, May 25 and has remained there ever since.

“He arrived at our pub and was trying to find a couple of quid to buy a coffee,” Mr McMillan explains.

Saffron Walden Reporter: The Three Horseshoes pub in Duton HillThe Three Horseshoes pub in Duton Hill (Image: Supplied)

“This is a friendly place, basically in the middle of nowhere, and people started talking to him, buying him food, and getting him drinks”.

“I have taken him home to give him food, wash his clothes and give him a shower”.

Mr McMillan said that he feels “very sorry for him” and that he has been in touch with both Uttlesford District Council and the Home Office for help “many times’ - but to no avail.

“Everybody is absolutely refusing any duty of care to him because of his immigration status,” he said.

“We basically have an illegal immigrant on the premises, but no one is coming to pick him up and I have no idea what is going to happen”.

Ahmed, who is 29 and originally from Gaza, reportedly sleeps in the pub gardens during the day - either in the sheltered smoking area, or behind a bush, and “walks the streets” at night “because it is too cold, and too wet”.

Mr McMillan, who has been the pub’s landlord for two years, says “I don’t have a problem with him sleeping at the pub, he is safer here” but “somebody in authority needs to help him”.

It’s believed that Ahmed spent several years travelling through various countries before arriving in the UK as a 16-year-old. It’s also thought he paid around €2,000 to be smuggled via a train, hiding in a car, from France.

Records suggest he claimed asylum back in 2012 whilst living in Birmingham, but the application was refused. Ahmed also claims to have appealed the decision.

It’s understood that he left sheltered accommodation, and ended up becoming homeless - and had spent a number of years living in London before deciding to leave and walk roughly 50 miles to the Dunmow area of Essex. Ahmed is said to have been living on the streets “for a number of years”.

Cllr Maggie Sutton, who sits on Uttlesford Borough Council, said: “I am continuing to support Christopher and I will chase this with the Home Office once again. Whatever the circumstances no one should ever turn their back on another human being in such dire circumstances”.

Mr McMillan has has also contacted several charities and just wants a resolution for Ahmed.

The situation has also forced Christopher to take time off work in an attempt to resolve the situation. He explains that Ahmed has very few possessions including a basic Nokia phone and had not heard about the recent conflict in his home of Gaza.

Uttlesford Borough Council has been contacted for comment.