A MIDDLE-AGED man who lived in an air vent at Oxted Station has been given an Asbo.
The two-year order, imposed by Redhill magistrates last Tuesday, bans Nicholas Maffia from entering Tandridge District Council's offices in Oxted.
He must also not harass or cause alarm or distress to council staff "or anyone in England and Wales".
The court heard that Maffia approached the council for housing advice in May last year, saying he had no fixed address.
But his homeless application was refused as he did not have a priority need.
Several times over the next eight months he visited the council's offices in Station Road, Oxted, but was abusive to staff, making personal threats, magistrates were told.
Last December, the council arranged a place for Mr Maffia in a night shelter in Redhill – but he was banned from the shelter as he had turned up drunk.
The next day Mr Maffia visited the council offices drunk and threatened to hurt a member of staff, the court heard.
He returned on December 16 with another homeless man, carrying wine, swearing, and threatening to burn the place down and hurt staff.
On January 3, the council served a letter on Mr Maffia, banning him from entering the offices.
He returned 12 days later and made death threats against an employee, the court was told.
The council applied for an emergency Asbo hearing, which was adjourned as Mr Maffia was in an alcoholic rehabilitation centre.
In March he was arrested after making threats to visit the council offices and to kill an officer.
He also threatened members of the public in Morrisons' car park, magistrates heard.
The council proceeded with its application for an Asbo after consulting Surrey Police.
Cllr Martin Fisher, who chairs the council's resources committee, said: "Taking out an Asbo is a last resort.
"We have done everything we can to help Mr Maffia, but we must protect our staff and residents from his unacceptable behaviour."
Earlier this year, Mr Maffia, 44, was living in the air vent in Morrisons' car park.
His address in court was given as Tally Road, Oxted. An "off-and-on alcoholic", he said he had been repeatedly stabbed by an ex-girlfriend – and showed off hideous scars on his stomach as evidence.
He said his spleen had been removed, which wrecked his immune system, and he took 18 pills daily to "help me stay alive".
A former postman and tax officer, he wrote his first novel last year in a battered notebook.
Mr Maffia and another man had sleeping bags in the air vent, where members of the public dropped in donations ranging from plates of tuna casserole to pairs of training shoes.
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