An Englishman's cave is his castle; ECO WARRIOR VOWS TO FIGHT ON AFTER EVICTION.

Byline: JUSTINE SMITH

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FORGET big scary dinosaurs, an equally formidable predator has descended on England's last living caveman.

The all-powerful health and safety inspector - with his dreaded clipboard, deadly ballpoint pen and gargantuan appetite for rules and regulations - has come-a-knocking on ecowarrior Hilaire Purbrick's home-made cave.

And he had some bad news.

Hilaire's ancestors may have invented fire, but they were also later advised to invent the fire escape - and the inspector has kicked him out for not having one.

Officials have blocked the entrance to the cave and when the Mirror paid him a visit yesterday, we found Hilaire living in a nearby shed - and vowing to go to the European Court of Human Rights.

He told us: "It's the most peaceful place down my cave. I played my fiddle there and a guy taught me some very powerful meditation. There's no interference so I could make my brain waves travel at the same speed as atoms, nine-tenths of the speed of light."

Right now his brain is racing with schemes to stave off eviction from the land where he has been squatting for the past six years. Hilaire carved the cave out of chalky rock himself with a pick and a spade.

"I don't know why I built it, it just felt right," he says. "I dug almost non-stop for three months over the winter of 2004-2005, picking out a spiral staircase into the earth."

But his underground lifestyle is now under threat thanks to Brighton and Hove Council, which this week won a court order to kick out the 46-year-old dadof-four. He said: "I don't understand why they have got it in for me. I don't claim a penny in benefits and I see myself as a guardian of this land, which is open to anyone." For now, he is staying in his shed near the blocked cave entrance. Sat on top of Brighton's Whitehawk Hill, it is enclosed by woven-branch fences and boasts carpets of red poppies, towering ornamental thistles and a thriving vegetable garden.

Just 10ft by 15ft, the higgledy-piggledly property houses a double bed, bunk bed, stove and desk. There is no electricity, no TV, no central heating and no fridge. The only nods to the 20th century, let alone the 21st, are his new mobile phone, a wind-up radio and torch, a solar-powered battery and a gas hob.

Before he split from his partner of 12 years, they lived here with their three children, who slept on beds made from shelves.

He said: "We all got on fine. The oldest kid slept on a bunk and the little ones on a shelf at the foot of our bed. In winter, when were indoors more, it was difficult cooking, but we managed and were all very happy."

Ruth, 11, Bella, nine, and Mabel, four, now live with their mum in a conventional house but love coming to stay at weekends.

Hilaire's passion for self-sufficiency came about after his clown shoe design business went up the spout and his first wife gave birth to their daughter, Molly, now 17.

He said: "That's when I first got an allotment up here and the place was just scrubland. I slowly started moving in and before long, others joined me and we established a legal commune up here." They were evicted but he moved back to the site in November 2003 and has been there ever since.

Hilaire keeps chickens and grows enough fruit and veg to feed the community, with leftovers to hand out to people in greater need.

He said: "After everything we have given to this place it would a tragedy to leave. I must have a negative carbon footprint as I don't use any electricity, we feed ourselves from the land or from the perfectly good food that supermarkets throw away. The best was some caviar but nobody liked it so we fed it to the chickens." Hilaire is sharing the site with a Czech IT genius and a gardener who used to work for Prince Charles at Highgrove.

He said: "Our toilet is a privy over a deep pit and we use sweet-smelling chaff thrown away by a coffee shop to soak it up and break it down. We have mains water to wash, cook, drink and use on the land. We don't create any rubbish. I live like a king but I don't ask anyone for anything."

He may make an exception if he gets to the European Court of Human Rights. Hilaire is a caveman ready for a fight.

WHO ELSE LIVES

Stig of the Dump Osama bin Laden Gollum, left

IN A CAVE LIKE THIS?

Batman Raquel Welch, left The BFGI don't know why they have got it in for me. I don't claim a penny in benefits

CAPTION(S):

INDOORS AND OUT Tending his garden and, above, in his new shed home REFUSING TO CAVE IN Outside his cave entrance. now sealed up Pictures: IMAGES INTERNATIONAL LIMITED/CONNORS BRIGHTON