Bristol gets £217k to tackle homelessness in winter

Bristol is recorded to have 67 rough sleepers

Bristol has received the third largest sum of a multimillion-pound government package to tackle homelessness.

The city currently has 67 rough sleepers and Bristol City Council has received £217,000 to support them through the winter - the biggest outside London.

The announcement coincided with Bristol charity 1625 staging a sleep out to raise awareness of homelessness.

Lee Hosken, who is a rough sleeper in the city, said: "If you've got no family or friends around you it's really hard to survive being homeless in Bristol."

Comparatively, Somerset Council has recorded 57 rough sleepers and the government has recorded a 27% rise in a year.

The £230m funding is from Labour's first budget in government.

'Spirals out of control'

Mr Hosken told the BBC: "It's the first time I've ever been homeless and it's the last time I'm gonna be homeless...

"You need at least three layers of clothing on, at least two sleeping bags around you and a quilt.

"That's what you need to at least keep warm during these cold nights."

Julie Dempster, founding director of Bristol homelessness charity BOSH, said: "We know that numbers across the UK have increased.

"We need more housing, we need more support before this spirals out of control and there are more deaths on our streets. That's the bottom line."