A former cancer patient is facing bankruptcy after losing an £18,000 lawsuit against a brewery.

Gardener Eric Dunbar, 65, a former community volunteer in Faringdon, fears he will be ruined by the court ruling, which holds him responsible for a loan taken out, five years ago, by the town's community association.

The association took out the loan with Morland's Brewery - later bought-out by Greene King.

Mr Dunbar is also being billed for a trading deficit run up by the association, which was based in the Old Pump House in the Market Place.

Mr Dunbar says he should not be held responsible as he left the association soon after signing the agreement - due to bowel cancer. He has since undergone two major operations, and has received chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The judgment, by Ipswich County Court, follows a decision by Faringdon Town Council to drop a separate lawsuit against Mr Dunbar and two other former trustees.

The council had threatened to take the men - dubbed locally 'The Faringdon Three' - to court to recover £81,000 worth of debts and unpaid repair bills from the association, which was wound up two years ago.

Last month, responding to support for the three men, the council backed down and the trustees handed over the lease to the council, following a wave of local support for the men.

Mr Dunbar, a divorced father-of-one, said: "I have had 22 months of hell. It took 13 months to fight the council and eventually we won. This is very disappointing and has left me feeling sick. I have been a gardener all my life, and can't afford to pay this.

"I have been told that if I ignore this, my possessions could be removed and sold and other enforcement proceedings taken against me. I am numb with horror, and don't know what to do. I am about to retire, but after 57 years of hard work, all I will be left with is a bill for £18,000. I don't have the money to give them, and have no choice but to be made bankrupt."

A second former trustee, Tim Reeves of Townend Road, Faringdon, also received a demand for £18,000 from the brewery.

Ann Strowger, of Marlborough Gardens, Faringdon, organised the campaign to drop the lawsuit against the trustees.

She said: "This is ridiculous and unfair. They are not rich men and cannot afford this, but the company has not taken that into consideration. Greene King are not poor, and could at least have spoken to the men to find a way around it. The men now have a black mark against their names."

Greene King spokesman Frances Brace said: "Legal action is only ever a last resort, but it is an important avenue open to us, otherwise the world would be full of people signing agreements without honouring them."