I can't afford the petrol to drive to work every day, so I sleep in my van: Builder's solution to beat rising fuel prices

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 4:35 PM on 29th March 2011

  • He saves £600 a month by avoiding a 125-mile daily round trip
  • 'It's uncomfortable but at the moment I have to find a means to survive'
A builder is sleeping in the back of his van because he can no longer afford to drive to work due to rising diesel prices.
Dennis Stapleton, 62, saves £600 a month by sleeping in his cramped van for four nights a week instead of travelling 63 miles home.
Instead of returning to his three-bedroom detached cottage he has made a raised platform at the end of his dusty builder's van and sleeps amongst his tools.
Fuel crisis: Builder Dennis Stapleton saves £600 a month on diesel by sleeping in his van all week and only going home at the weekends
Fuel crisis: Builder Dennis Stapleton saves £600 a month on diesel by sleeping in his van all week and only going home at the weekends
'People might think I am mad sleeping in a van but it's a huge saving,' said Mr Stapleton, who has been in the building trade for 30 years.
'I have just about managed to squeeze a single mattress into the back of the van and I can almost stretch out.