AN NHS worker facing losing his home before Christmas has found somewhere to live after his plight was highlighted on social media and the Packet.

Graham Milne, 60, was devastated after he was served notice by his landlord to leave his home in Rose Cottage in Penwerris Lane by December 31. He had lived there for eight years.

But following an appeal on the Falmouth Penryn and Surrounding area Facebook page which was picked up by the Packet and then the BBC and ITV, Mr Milne says he was inundated with offers of help.

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NHS worker given notice to quit home says Cornwall housing crisis has to be solved

One couple living in Spain, who do not want to be identified, saw the Packet story online, and immediately offered him their house in Acacia Road and he moves in at the end of the month with his current housemate.

Not only that but he says the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust has seen a massive increase in calls to its switchboard wanting to help NHS workers find somewhere to live.

He is now calling on local MPs such as Cherilyn Mackrory to respond the situation with initiatives such as the reintroduction of Rent Officers who would inspect properties and fix a rent at what they considered it to be worth.

"A lot of good has come out of it," he told the Packet. A couple who are from Cornwall but live in Spain offered the house after they saw the article in the Packet and they emailed me.

"My original post reached over 50,000 people, which has absolutely staggered me. It took me days and days and days to follow up the lead and reply to the wellwishers. I was completely overwhelmed.

"Even the people that wished me well lifted my spirits, a lot of them I replied to or I liked their comments. If I missed anybody I'm really sorry about that there were so many. A lot of the leads I had seen already. Most of them were way out of my budget. That just highlighted the bigger issue really that renting in Cornwall is out of hand."

Since Mr Milnes' story appeared his plight, and the plight of other NHS workers has been featured on TV three times both on the BBC and ITV and Radio Cornwall twice.

"Something the MPs could do right now so easily is to reintroduce the rent officers that go round to make sure the properties are habitable and at a fair price for the tenant and the landlord.

"At the moment some landlords are asking obscene amounts of money."

Mr Milne says he could not afford to rent a property on his own on his wages and has to go in with a housemate to be able to afford it.

The new house has two bedrooms and a box room so his son could come and stay at weekends as well. He has a moving in date of November 29 so will be settled in for Christmas.

"The Packet helped in a big way," said Mr Milne. "One thing I am quite pleased about is that I was stopped in Sainsbury's today, I didn't know who he was, just a random guy but he recognised me from the paper presumably or the TV and asked if I'd sorted out anything.

"He turned out to be on the switchboard at Treliske and he said since that story broke two weeks ago or more the offers of housing and landlords offering housing to NHS staff has increased tenfold."

A spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall Trust said it had received 40 submissions through it's online portal for landlords since the story broke.

"We delighted by the response we have had from private individuals and letting agents over the last few days, and the innovative approaches they are keen to take towards supporting and prioritising key workers," they said.

"We have an online form where landlords and letting agents can send details for us to post properties on our private staff Facebook group, which has over 150 members and is successfully helping to match people with new homes.

"Whilst short term winter lets are helpful, we have many staff who are looking for long term rentals and would be really glad to hear of suitable opportunities."