Severe Weather Emergency Protocol activated for Northants rough sleepers

The new night shelter at Queen's Grove Methodist Church in Northampton is one of the venues with places for homeless people during bad weather.

Special measures have been put in place across a county to help homeless people during the freezing weather.

Both West and North Northamptonshire councils have activated Severe Weather Emergency Protocols (SWEP).

This means all known rough sleepers would be contacted with information about overnight accommodation and directed to services.

The councils are urging anyone who knows of a rough sleeper to get in touch so they can be offered shelter.

SWEP is activated when the temperature falls below 0C (32F).

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) said SWEP was likely to stay in place for four nights but the situation would be reviewed each day.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) planned for SWEP to remain in place until at least 09:00 GMT on Wednesday.

WNC said the aim of SWEP was to make sure no-one died on the streets due to severe weather and that every effort was made to reach out to people sleeping rough to help them get the services they needed.

The night shelter at Queen's Grove Methodist Church has 27 beds

Among the facilities being offered to people sleeping on the streets was the night shelter operated by the Hope Centre charity, which opened last week at Queen's Grove Methodist Church in Northampton.

The charity said its range of services had helped a "staggering" 92 homeless people last month.

It said this was "double" the figure recorded in the same period of 2022.

With temperatures possibly dropping to -6C (21F) later this week, it is likely that SWEP would not be lifted for several days.