by Chinwe Okafor

Many qualified nine to fivers have barely left the four corners of their busy lives, much less gotten the time, energy or finances to travel outside the country on a luxurious vacation. However, a beggar has beaten them to it.

This beggar commutes more than 200 miles to sit in a doorway outside an exclusive London restaurant where he accepts cash using his own chip and pin machine.

Damien Preston-Booth, 37, has taken money from the rich, tourists and celebrities to pay for gadgets like an iPad and trips across Europe.

On his Facebook page today he posted a picture of himself with music mogul Simon Cowell in the West End with the caption: ‘Simon didn’t give me 50 pounds it was 20’.

Mr Preston-Booth travels by bus, train or rental car from Preston in Lancashire to Mayfair and spends Thursdays to Sundays taking cash from passers-by and card payments from ‘regulars’.

He was last seen in the area over Christmas and New Year, local businesses have said.

He usually finds a spot outside a Lebanese restaurant but is said to book into a nearby hotel if the weather is inclement.

The 37-year-old is renting a £300-a-month flat but appears to have been saying he has been homeless for five years.

Other beggars have said that they are ‘scared’ of Preston-Booth, who denies he is a bully and claims he gives cash to others on the streets.

His Facebook profile shows he has been flying all over Europe since the summer and he told online friends he had a ‘great year’.