A LONELY widower who went viral after his story broke hearts across the nation has been banned from using a communal bin area after 9am.

John Anthony Williams, known as Tony, has been hit with a restraining order after being acquitted of harassment during a court hearing at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on Tuesday (May 11).

The pensioner, who said he was 75 but is actually 88, has been ordered not to contact a couple, Richard and Barbara Charlesworth, who live on his street of Lambton Close in Medstead, Alton, nor to visit their house.

The retired physicist has also been banned from using the communal bin after 9am.

The order will remain in place until May 10, 2022.

However, the accusations of harassment without violence were dismissed, with no evidence offered to the court.

It comes after Ms Selina Edwards, on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service, requested an adjournment of the case, which she described as an “ongoing neighbour dispute”, in April, for “further enquiries from the police”.

The 88-year-old pensioner went viral in September 2020 after opening up about the challenges he has faced meeting people as a widower during the pandemic.