Help Bristol's Homeless gets site for 'micro flat' containers

Containers like this one are refurbished with a kitchen and bathroom

A charity which turns old shipping containers into accommodation for homeless people has a fixed site for the first time.

Help Bristol's Homeless converts old containers into "micro flats" equipped with kitchens and bathrooms.

The aim is to give homeless people a base for about four months.

Bristol City Council is leasing a site at Spring Street to the charity with planning permission yet to be given.

The charity is due to finish refurbishing its sixth container this week.

Old shipping containers are converted into accommodation

Jasper Thompson, who began the charity, said: "We will make 15 in total and move them to a new site on Spring Street."

The charity said people living in the containers felt safe and secure.

"Everyone has their own front door key, it's changed their lives already," added Mr Thompson.

Similar schemes for homeless people exist in Brighton, London and Cardiff, and the Wenckehof student village in Amsterdam is made up entirely of old containers.