A HOMELESS man was given a job in a hotel after he was ‘left in the lurch’ and spent 10 days living in a tent.

James Morgan is now a general assistant at the Windermere Park Hotel after initially being housed there because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are very lucky to have found him,” said Jonathan Denby, owner and managing director of South Lakes Hotels.

Previously Kendal-born James, 49, had a successful career as a props and model maker for film sets including on James Bond movie Casino Royale.

“I had finished my last job in Birmingham and I decided I wanted to come back to the Lake District,” he said.

But when he began job-hunting in the Lakes, things began to go wrong due to the pandemic.

“I’d arranged to have a trial period at Low Wood Bay hotel and I had three other interviews lined up,” he said.

“I’d booked myself into a youth hostel in Ambleside for a month and literally as I was travelling up from Birmingham everything was cancelled.”

After a week staying at Ambleside Youth Hostel, James was notified that they too were closing.

“I had to go and live in my tent,” he said.

South Lakes District Council (SLDC) intervened and housed him at Windermere Park Hotel, who have been open to homeless referrals during the pandemic.

Hotel manager Jan Allen encouraged James to send his CV to owner Jonathan Denby.

“We were asked by the council to take some of the homeless in and he happened to be one of them,” she said.

“He’s a nice decent man and I mentioned to Jonathan that when this all kicked off he was left in the lurch with nothing.”

After a week’s trial James was given a permanent job and will be helping with refurbishment work until the hotel reopens.

Mr Denby said: “He fits in very well with our ethos of friendliness and hard work and has sailed through his trial period with flying colours.”

“The hotel is fantastic - they were a lifesaver,” said James. “It’s been a godsend.”