THE owner of a barn used by a notorious tramp may find himself landed with a hefty council tax demand - as a town gets tough with an unwelcome visitor.

The fate of vagrant Mel Bird has divided the small community in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, for months.

To his supporters, Mr Bird is a gentleman of the road, an amiable down-and-out who sleeps beneath the stars (or a convenient hayloft) with his two faithful old dogs.

Critics paint a rather different picture.

They say Mr Bird is an intimidating presence in the town who drinks heavily and makes offensive remarks to passers-by.

He was locked out of his favourite daytime haunt - the local bus shelter - after negotiations with the town council broke down.

And now his other "home", a local barn, may also be off-limits if councillors go ahead with a plan to charge the owner council tax.

The idea is that the barn could be liable to a charge as a home because Mr Bird lives in it.

The get-tough policy was discussed at a public meeting in the town's Thornborough Hall.

About 35 residents heard how, despite his eviction from the bus shelter, Mr Bird has nevertheless remained firmly ensconced in the town centre.

He sleeps in the barn on the edge of town at night, holding court on a bench in the market square during the day.

Some residents at the meeting urged tolerance, suggesting Mr Bird might be less inclined to misbehave if the community appeared to be on his side.

However - although there was no vote on a course of action - most people were in favour of keeping the bus shelter gates locked. They also wanted to seek other ways of encouraging Mr Bird to moderate his behaviour - or move on.

The meeting was warned a court was unlikely to consider Mr Bird's antics serious enough to warrant an anti-social behaviour order.

Leyburn's senior police officer, Sergeant Mick Rookes, said he was researching whether the relatively new Harassment Act could be used to curb some of Mr Bird's conduct.

But yesterday, the Yorkshire Law Society spokesman, John Yeomans, said any such prosecution would take the form of a test case - and there was no guarantee of success.