THE HOME of a Polish war hero who lay dead in his caravan for a month before being discovered finally looks set to be sold.

Roman Brzezinski, 80, died from pneumonia in his caravan in Haygate Lane, Pickering in May. He was discovered by friends in the town who became concerned about his welfare.

Since the death of Roman - who lived alone in the caravan for 50 years - a full scale attempt to trace his relatives in Poland has been under way.

Now executors handling the estate of Roman are preparing to sell the eight-acre smallholding after one of his beneficiaries, Aldona Pruchno-Wroblewska, successfully established lawful use of the land for a residential caravan.

Executor Roman Owski, of Midland Bank in Sheffield, said they had spent the last year tracing Mr Brzezinski's family tree.

"Once the property has been sold the money will then be divided between his family in Poland," she said.

The news has come as a relief to one of Mr Brzezinski's friends, Marion Saas, who lives in Middleton, near Pickering.

Mrs Saas was responsible for making the funeral arrangements, and attempting to contact his relatives in Poland.

She said: "To be honest there has been a lot of misunderstanding about who the real beneficiaries are, which has caused me a lot of upset in the past.

"I'm pleased things have now been sorted out because Roman had a dreadfully sad life and he deserves some peace."

A spokeswoman from Cundalls estate agents, who are handling the sale, confirmed it would be going ahead once they had finalised details with the beneficiary.

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