Rubbish idea! Millionaire internet pioneer devises solution to UK's homeless crisis... by tying two WHEELIE BINS together to create 'sleep pods' costing £100 each
- Eccentric multi-millionaire Peter Dawe creates a 'sleep pod' for the homeless
- It is two wheelie bins bolted together which he says will keep rough sleepers dry
- He has now showcased his design on video - but critics say it is 'demeaning'
- The invention costs just £100 and Mr Dawe says he hope it will take of 'globally'
An eccentric multi-millionaire believes he has come up with a solution to the homelessness crisis - by tying two wheelie bins together.
Peter Dawe, 65, of Ely, Cambridgeshire, says he has created a unique 'sleep pod' which he insists is the answer to keeping rough sleepers dry at night.
He showcased his design in a video where he starts by laying a lid down as a 'pillow' before clambering in one half and lifting the second over his head so he is enclosed.
Entrepreneur Peter Dawe (pictured climbing into his pod) says he has created a unique 'sleep pod' which he insists is the answer to keeping rough sleepers dry at night
Mr Dawe is filmed clambering inside the two bins, using the lid as a pillow
The two bins are bolted together and can be modified with small sawed squares to create air holes - at a total cost of just £100, he claims.
But his idea is struggling to take off after it was branded 'demeaning' by social media users, and local homeless charities tried to distance themselves from it.
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It is the latest wacky creation from Mr Dawe, who was given an OBE honour in 2001 for his work combating child pornography and made his fortune as a tech tycoon.
Mr Dawe - married to Susan Jane, 64 - has founded over 90 organisations and businesses after getting a kick start in his career working in the finance and management services at both Cambridge City and Cambridgeshire County councils.
Mr Dawe has showcased his video online, which shows him fully enclosed in the wheelie bin creation
Peter Dawe is pictured in a photoshoot with his invention of the sleep pod for the homeless
His first major success took place in the 1990s when the company he founded, Pipex, became the UK's first commercial internet service provider. Now, it is listed at £150million on the London Stock Exchange.
In 2016 launched an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, and he recently built a 1,500 acre farm in Norfolk which he is transforming into a 'self-sustainable' community for like-minded 'survivalists'.
He said at the time that he fears civilisation is perilously close to collapse and created the 'survive and thrive' farm where 100 people could in live in safety.
Mr Dawe, who stood as a Brexit Party candidate in the general election, said: 'My hope is that, if it works and homeless people like them, it will go global and people will be using these as sleep pods around the world.
The 'invention' is two wheelie bins bolted together at the hinge, which a person can climb inside
The businessman (pictured) said he first hit on the idea of using the bins as a place to sleep when he built a prototype of a single person car, also made from a bin
Mr Dawe, pictured here climbing inside the bin, recently built a 1,500 acre farm in Norfolk which he is transforming into a 'self-sustainable' community for like-minded 'survivalists'
'It is a Marmite design. Some people think it's absolute genius, some people are actually horrified. 'Oh you can't put homeless people in rubbish bins', they say.
'My argument is I'm not putting homeless people in there, they are choosing it.
'All I'm doing is mitigating the rough sleeping environment into something a bit more comfortable and secure.'
The businessman said he first hit on the idea of using the bins as a place to sleep when he built a prototype of a single person car, also made from a bin.
He added: 'I was messing around with them and got in and found it was dry and warm.
Mr Dawe (pictured last October) recently built a 1,500 acre farm in Norfolk which he is transforming into a 'self-sustainable' community for like-minded 'survivalists'
The site on the survival farm where Peter Dawe in Norfolk will have homes built for families
'Secondly, it is unbelievably easy to make - it is two wheelie bins with four saw cuts and couple of bolts.
'It was just one of those bright spark ideas - I thought this might work.
'So I put one together and got in it and thought 'yeah this does work'. Now all we have got to do is figure out whether rough sleepers think it is a good idea.'
However the invention attracted ridicule on social media.
Farm machinery on the survival farm where Mr Dawe will have homes built for families to live
Fertilizer storage containers on Mr Dawe's farm are pictured in October last year
Matthew Taylor slammed: 'This is possibly one of the worst and most demeaning inventions I've ever seen.
'Bear in mind that you could buy (sic) a cheap tent for that price and it might actually work to sleep in.
Graeme Stewart said: 'People genuinely think shipping containers for the homeless are a great idea.
'Well this is next level stuff. I don't know whether to laugh in disbelief or cry.'
