Thousands sign petition in support of Italy's Robinson Crusoe amid threats to evict him from island off Sardinia

More than 6,000 people have signed a petition in support of a hermit dubbed Italy's Robinson Crusoe who is being threatened with eviction from the tiny island he has inhabited off the coast of Sardinia for more than 30 years.

Mauro Morandi, 81, lives a castaway existence on Budelli, an island that lies off the northern tip of Sardinia and which is famed for its beaches of fine pink sand.

But Budelli – of which he is the only inhabitant – became part of La Maddalena Archipelago National Park five years ago and the authorities now want him gone.

They want to turn the ramshackle structure in which he lives – a former Second World War radio station – into an environmental education centre.

Since arriving on the island on a yachting trip 31 years ago, Mr Morandi has established himself as the custodian of the island, showing day-trippers around and keeping it in a pristine state.

“When the storms arrive in the winter I clean up all the plastic that washes up on the beaches,” he told The Telegraph.

“They want to kick me out but I will do everything I can to stay. This is my home, my life. I wouldn’t know where else to live.”

The former teacher arrived on the island by chance in 1989 at the start of a yacht journey which he had hoped would take him eventually to Tahiti.

Instead, he fell in love with Budelli and took over as its guardian when the existing custodian retired.

“I’m very worried and there is a great deal of uncertainty. I heard about the plans to move me through the Sardinian media. The authorities haven’t even sent me an official notice yet,” said the hermit, who is originally from the city of Modena in northern Italy.

“On Tuesday, 4,000 people had signed the petition but now it is up to 6,000. That’s not bad going – 2,000 people in a day coming out in support of me,” he said.

He says he has never fallen ill during his three decades on the island and has not had so much as a cold.

During the winter months he spends much of his time reading books.

Mr Morandi resisted a previous attempt to evict him from the island, in 2018, when he was saved in part by a petition that gathered 18,000 signatures. But the authorities seem determined to turf him out this time.

Fabrizio Fonnesu, the director of the national park, says his days on the island are numbered.

Mr Morandi’s home, which is equipped with solar panels and a rudimentary system for collecting rainwater, is an “illegal construction” and the castaway has no right to live there any longer, Mr Fonnesu said.