MORE people are sleeping rough in Worcester, according to official figures.

As part of a national estimate of people sleeping out of doors, Worcester City Council organised its annual count of rough sleepers on November 10 last year, and found 12 people bedding down outside.

That’s an increase on the 10 found in the same count in 2016 though one expert believes that might be because agencies are getting better at identifying and finding rough sleepers.

Staff from the City Council, Maggs Day Centre and homeless charity Connecting Communities and People (CCP) joined the city’s street pastors to carry out the count organised by Ben Bradley, single homeless pathways officer at the Guildhall.

He said: “Every local council has to provide an annual count figure or estimate of rough sleeping, following robust guidelines set down by the government. We also had an independent Homeless Link verifier with us to ensure the guidance was fully followed.

“We had 21 people working on the count. People were found sleeping rough in a range of locations around the city - shop doorways, stairwells, car parks and other secluded spots away from the general public.

“We conducted the count in a sensitive manner to ensure we did not disturb anyone who was sleeping rough.”

Ross Webber works for CCP in Worcestershire and says the charity, which is contracted by Worcester City Council, works in a number of ways to help rough sleepers.

He said: “If anyone finds themselves on the street they can go to the Hive and declare themselves homeless. They can also go to Maggs Day centre. From there they can go to 'No Second Night Out’ where they can get emergency accommodation for at least three days at the YMCA.

“We will work with them to find temporary accommodation and also then have six months to try and help them find something more permanent, and we’ll work with doctors and help with benefits applications.”

Mr Webber asked members of the public to use Streetlink.org.uk to report people sleeping outside and said: “That helps us find them, and we can do a lot to help for more entrenched rough sleepers.”