IT’S hard to imagine but, for compulsive hoarder Ian Sparks, the idea of throwing away newspapers caused him to feel an unbearable sense of loss.

His obsession meant his home was filled with thousands of newspapers and Ian, now 53, felt isolated from the world, living in a cramped, confined conditions. “I think, because I’m not married and don’t have children, the newspapers sort of compensated for that and I didn’t want to let them go,” he says.

“Any time I tried to throw the newspapers away, I had a feeling of loss that was unbearable.” In the home that Ian shared with his parents, he had thousands of newspaper cuttings he had collected throughout his life.

He had started a scrapbook of Status Quo articles at 18 and then the compulsion to keep other newspaper cuttings escalated.

Ian, from Clacton, says: “I would collect all the free papers on the trains and take them home, as well as daily and weekend papers.

“I would sit down and cut out the articles on Sunday nights and write at the top of the page the ones I wanted to read later.”

Ian’s obsession with hoarding began to get worse. He says: “At one point I was obsessively hoarding articles about hoarding – it was a vicious circle.

“The back room and my bedroom were filled with bags of newspapers and cuttings.”

On occasions, when his parents would try to clear out the newspapers, Ian would fly into a rage.

“I would lash out sometimes and felt like I was losing control,” he says. “One time the police were called, but we sorted it out between us and it was OK.

“It is hard to explain if you haven’t been in the same situation, but I had a strong emotional attachment to the newspapers.”

Eight years ago Ian undertook a series of tests to try to identify the root of the problem, including brain scans.

Since then he has received help from hoarding support groups and is currently seeking help from a psychologist.

“I feel like I have turned a corner and I am recovering,” says Ian.

“Now I don’t pick up and take home newspapers on the trains. I put them in a recycling bin at the station. I still have things to clear out but it’s nowhere near as bad as before.”

Visit www.ocdaction.org.uk for more information.