AN AMBITIOUS homeless man, fed up with life on the streets, is hoping to start his own burger van business.

Paul Schofield, 40, was sleeping rough and had a drug addiction when he arrived in Brighton three years ago.

But since moving to the city he has slowly been getting his life back on track.

Paul, now living in the George William Mews hostel in Portslade, completed his level three catering qualification over the last two years while living rough on the streets.

The Job Centre agreed to cover his first year and he then took out a student loan for the second year to complete his qualification.

Now he wants to run his own food van serving “English grub” rather than the “posh nosh” he sees advertised in the restaurants.

Paul said: “I want to be flipping burgers and sausages, fry cheesy chips and bake cinnamon buns. The type of food that everyone wants, in my opinion.

“I’ve come such a long way already, from being on the street and struggling with my heroin addiction to finally getting rehoused.

“Living on the streets can be boring and just incredibly lonely.

“Now that I am in a happier place, I want to give something back to the homeless.

“I have done my studying and prep and now I want to be at that next stage where I can get funding to run a business and give something back.

“The ultimate goal for me is to eventually help the homeless.

“Once I have the burger van up and running I want to give them food and then hopefully if all goes well, I would love to be able to give some of them a job.

“So many people I met on the street are so desperate to get work and get their life back on track.”

Paul already has his eye on a couple of burger vans for sale and has set up a gofundme page to help make his dream come true.

He said he has received a lot of support from the community, especially Sussex Homeless Support which said it could help provide somewhere for him to park his van.

Paul has been helped by Ambigo, a Brighton-based organisation that brings communities together to help each other achieve their ambitions.

Adam Bates, 29, founder of Ambigo said: “Paul heard about us helping another homeless man with his future plans and immediately got in touch.

“We have been so encouraging with Paul because we think it’s a great idea.

“He clearly has a huge heart in the right place because he is wanting to give back to the people that need the help.

To visit Paul's fundraising page, click here.