Homeless man found dead near Parliament 'was model'

The man was found in an underpass at Westminster Underground station

A man found dead in a Tube station underpass near the Houses of Parliament was a former model who had recently applied for a job as a waiter, a homeless charity has said.

The Connection at St Martin's said the dead man, whom it did not name, had stayed at its emergency night shelter.

He was discovered at Westminster Underground station shortly after 07:00 GMT on Wednesday.

The Met said it was treating his death as unexplained, but not suspicious.

Jeremy Corbyn was among those who sent flowers to where the man was found

Connection said the man, who was a Portuguese national, worked in the hospitality industry and had been applying for jobs as recently as last week.

They said he had "complex circumstances" but "enjoyed singing and regularly attended yoga classes".

"He had strengths, talents and skills but he also had problems and things went very wrong for him," the charity's chief executive Pam Orchard said.

The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those who sent flowers to the underpass where he was found.

He was among several MPs who took to Twitter to call on the government to do more for homeless people.

Heather Wheeler MP, the minister for housing homelessness, tweeted that "stories like this push me on to find solutions and work to eradicate rough sleeping for good".