A FORMER North-East councillor stranded in Thailand has been reduced to begging for money in the street so he can eat.

Bill Proud, 59, was due to return home a week ago, but was trapped when anti-government protestors shut down the two main airports in Bangkok.

The protest has come to an end, but Mr Proud, who used to represent Catchgate on Derwentside District Council, was last night one of 3,000 people still stranded in the Asian country.

He had been on holiday in Phuket and faces an anxious wait in the Thai capital to find out when he can return home.

Thai authorities paid for emergency accommodation for Mr Proud, who is diabetic, but he has been forced to stay in the seedy red-light district of the city and is given only one meal a day – forcing him to plead with strangers for money to feed himself.

He said his medication is running out and he needs to eat regularly after his five daily injections.

Mr Proud said: “It’s absolute chaos over here – the country is in a state of flux. I’ve been reduced to begging so I can afford food.

“The airline I’m travelling with, Gulf Air, says there are flights going back to England, but that they are leaving from Phuket and that’s hundreds of miles away.

“I don’t have enough money for the transport to get there.

I’m staying in the red-light district but, to be honest, I’m just glad to have a bed. There is a cooked breakfast, but I need regular food.”

Mr Proud, who resigned from the Labour party in protest at the invasion of Iraq, said he had contacted the British Embassy, but was still waiting to hear back.

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are sending extra staff to Bangkok and there are already people working there who are trying to help people. We are also providing support for anybody who has medical problems.

“The embassy does lend money, but on the basis of repayment.

I would urge this man to get in touch with us.”