AN 88-year-old war veteran who liberated a prison rescuing thousands of Britons faces being "homeless" while he remains stuck on a housing waiting list.

Swanley-born and bred Albert Richards applied to West Kent Homes for sheltered housing in his home town in June last year.

He was previously living in Brook Road, Swanley, but redundancy forced his son to sell their house and move away from the area in search of work.

Mr Richards, a retired lorry driver, is now stuck 67 miles away from his brothers, sisters and friends living in an overcrowded home with his granddaughter Samantha Trew and her family in Sandwich.

In a last ditch attempt to draw attention to his plight, his granddaughter will evict him from her house on Thursday (April 5), rendering him homeless in the hope he becomes a higher priority for sheltered housing.

Speaking to News Shopper, the pensioner said: “I think it’s a terrible situation to be in.

“I’m not at my own home or near my own home and I’m just in limbo.

“Swanley is my home town - I was born and bred there but now I’m homeless.

“I miss all my family and friends.”

Mr Richards was a member of the Deal Royal Marines and in 1945 he helped rescue more than 3,000 British prisoners of war from Changi Prison in Singapore.

He also spent time serving his country in Burma and Penang during the Second World War.

But today, his applications to move in alongside his brothers and sisters at White Oak Court in Swanley have so far been unsuccessful, with the only accommodation offered being 12 miles away in Sevenoaks.

Mrs Trew, 42, said: “West Kent Homes say he’s not being flexible because they wanted to put him in Sevenoaks.

“Why should he live out the last years of his life somewhere that he is not happy?

“He doesn’t want to be here in Sandwich either, he doesn’t know anyone here.

“My grandad is becoming more and more depressed and fed up with it all, so much so that I drive him up to Swanley once a week to see his brothers and sisters and friends to perk him up.”

Mrs Trew has been forced to move her grandfather into her 15-year-old daughter’s downstairs bedroom, relocating her to the room previously occupied by her eight-year-old son.

As a result, her son has been sleeping on a mattress in the room shared by Mrs Trew and her husband since the start of the new year.

She added: “My son has become incredibly tired and run down and my daughter is already going through a stressful time with her exams coming up.”

A West Kent Housing spokeswoman said: “The housing register consists of people who have a need for a property as determined by their requirements.

“Applicants wishing to move but who are already adequately housed are eligible to apply to join the register but will have no priority for housing.

“Priority will be given to those in the greatest need.”