Mr Peerless has been outside the court since Tuesday afternoon

A Devon pensioner has ended his 48 hour sit-down protest over his council tax bill - but he is still refusing to pay up.

John Peerless, 68, has been warned by the council that, if necessary, it will send in the bailiffs to get the money he owes.

Mr Peerless, who is a former Royal Marine, spent two nights outside Plymouth Magistrates' Court.

He has refused to pay a council tax demand of �1,046 for a band-D property in Laira, Plymouth.

We have every admiration for him and it'll be the first of many such protests Albert Venison, Devon and Cornwall Pensioners Convention Council tax protests spread

The 68-year-old arrived at about 1600 BST on Tuesday and spent two days and nights sat on his garden chair.

He has not paid any council tax for the past 12 months.

"My protest is that my pension increase was 1.7% and the council tax increase was 13.4%, many times above inflation," he said.

"So I decided to stand up and be counted. That was a year ago."

While he conceded he would eventually have to pay the outstanding amount he said he had received overwhelming support from passers-by.

"It's been 100% support," he said.

"I've had nobody against it.

"The reactions I have received from people have been wonderful and it has been an experience worth living."

"I decided I would sit in the court and stay in the court, but I was handled out of the court, gently and kindly, to this bench."

It has been an experience worth living John Peerless Have your say about council tax rises

And Albert Venison, of the Devon and Cornwall Pensioners Convention, joined Mr Peerless on his bench on Thursday morning.

"It's terrific," he said.

"We have every admiration for him and it'll be the first of many such protests."

Mr Venison says 250 members of his group are withholding this year's council tax increase and they are willing to go to jail for it.

Mr Peerless said he had planned to continue his protest for a fortnight, but he said he would end his sit-in on Thursday evening because his wife was not well.

And with his family worrying about him and his point made, Mr Peerless decided it was time to pack up his temporary camp and head home.

And he is not alone in his failure to pay.