A man had been living in the attic of a church for three years, before being found by an airconditioning repairman on Tuesday.

William Barker, 42, was a member of the congregation at St Ann's Catholic Church, Arlington VA, and would attend mass regularly. Unlike other members of the Church, when the service ended he would not leave.

Once the church had emptied, Barker would climb into the attic with a ladder to his makeshift home.

"He would wait until the evening hours when there was less staff around, pop a ceiling tile, use a ladder, crawl up to his own space in the attic, pull the ladder up there and occupy it until the next morning," Dustin Sternbeck of Arlington County Police told News4.

Barker had built himself a bed and clothing was found hanging from the rafters.

He was discovered by an air conditioning repairmen, who heard noises in the attic and rang the police. The police then found Barker's belongings in the attic.

The pastor of the Church said the discovery was "quite sad".

I was there the whole time when the police were called in, and when he came down, I was waiting to see his face, and there was a deep sadness that I felt there," he said.

Police arrested Barker and he was charged with trespassing.