Couple left on demolition street

Mr Ryan's home is the last remaining house in the street

A caretaker says he is "on the verge of a breakdown" after his employers refused to re-house him while building work surrounds his east London home.

Patrick Ryan, 60, works at the Church of England's Holy Trinity Primary School in Dalston. The church provides him a home in nearby Roseberry Place.

All his neighbours' homes have been demolished while the East London line rail extension and housing is built.

A church spokesman said they had done "all they can" to support Mr Ryan.

Mr Ryan has worked at the school for 20 years, and is required to live in the house as part of his job.

"It used to be so quiet around here but now it's just noise, noise, noise," he said.

'Constant drilling'

On one side of Mr Ryan's house, Transport for London (TfL) is working on its £1.4bn East London line extension.

On the other side, contractors are carrying out a £160m Hackney Council plan to build 500 homes, shops, restaurants and a library.

As a result, Mr Ryan said he and his wife hear constant drilling and hammering during the daytime, and vibrations shake their house.

We keep the windows shut to block out the noise and dust but then the heat becomes stifling Patrick Ryan

He said: "We are going through hell. "We keep the windows shut to block out the noise and dust but then the heat becomes stifling. It is horrendous."

A screen erected in front of their house to block out noise has been ineffective, Mr Ryan added.

The GMB union said the couple had been put under "intolerable strain".

The church should have persuaded TfL to pay for temporary accommodation for them while building work continues until 2010, the union said.

A GMB spokesman added: "If the Church of England wants to run schools they have to take their duty of care for their employees seriously."

A spokesman for the church's London diocese said it was "sympathetic" to the disruption he was experiencing.

"The school governors and the diocese have done all they can to provide moral support and practical assistance for Mr Ryan," he said.

Noise and pollution levels on the site were regularly monitored by Hackney Council and were within permitted levels, he added.

"Neither the school nor the diocese are in a position to provide him with alternative accommodation."

TfL said it would make "several large payments" to Mr Ryan to enable him to spend some time away from the house.