A FORMER ambulance worker has called for more action to help homeless people in cold weather after he tended to 14 rough sleepers who were on the streets in freezing temperatures.

However, a spokesman for Worcester City Council said there are beds available at a shelter and outreach workers go out to encourage rough sleepers to spend the night, but some people choose not to take up the offer of help.

Ex ambulance worker Nick Dyson went out on Friday night from 7.30pm to donate thermal waterproof silver foil sleeping bag covers to those sleeping rough, with temperatures having plummeted well below zero.

The 59-year-old, of Worcester, also bought porridge and tea from McDonald’s to give to a group of homeless people camped out on The Cross.

The former West Midlands Ambulance Service worker said: “I find it alarming that it got down to -5, tonight it’s -6, yet they are on the streets."

Mr Dyson said he got the idea to buy the sleeping bag covers after seeing several rough sleepers out in the pouring rain a few days before.

He posted on Facebook and found a helper who split the £60 with him to buy the bags and they went out together to hand them out.

Mr Dyson described how, on Friday, he was “greeted with civility in every case” but got home feeling “completely empty” due to the experience.

Referring to Joby Sparrey, a homeless man found dead in Malvern town centre on Christmas Day last year, Mr Dyson said this could easily have happened in Worcester.

He said that one of the women he helped was in “totally inadequate clothing” for the weather, while all of them said they had not been spoken to by outreach workers.

“Worcester does not want to be labelled as a death city for the homeless,” he continued.

Mr Dyson said there are more homeless on the streets than when he left the ambulance service in 2001 after 12 years.

He said the situation was so severe on Friday he contacted rough sleepers service StreetLink, who told him they had alerted the city council to the situation as a priority.

Mr Dyson is currently off work as a relief support worker, having been diagnosed with depression.

On Friday, he said he asked one homeless man who was suffering with his mental health: “Can’t you go to a doctor and get antidepressants like me?”

“He looked me straight in the eye and said: 'They don’t care about us, all they think is we’re drugged and on alcohol – they’re not interested'.”

In 2001, Mr Dyson spent 10 months in Kisumu in Kenya working with around 300 homeless children living on the streets, many having been orphaned due to a lack of medical care available for AIDS.

“I kept thinking, at least they are warm here,” he said. “But in the UK, and other places like this, they’re freezing.”

Two years ago, he did a sponsored sleep-in with others at Worcester Cathedral to highlight the issue of homelessness in the city.

Mr Dyson went on to question why churches don't open their doors, supervised by two or three volunteers, with a policeman there on duty.

“If you’re a Christian organisation you should be duty bound to open the doors of the church,” he said.

A city council spokesman said: “An overnight shelter for rough sleepers was open in Worcester all weekend and has been every night since Sunday, January 27, in line with the county’s severe weather emergency protocol.

“Outreach workers from CCP and Maggs went out on Friday night to encourage rough sleepers to go to the shelter.

“18 people stayed overnight on Friday and everyone the team encountered was told that the centre was open all weekend.

“14 people went to the shelter on Saturday and eight decided to stay the night.

“Ultimately, people do have a choice about whether to stay – some choose not to, and it is their right to do so.

“Comprehensive outreach is undertaken each night that the shelter is open and rapid response officers, funded by Worcester City Council, provide extra support.

“The team tell rough sleepers where and how to access the shelter, and report their activity back to the council.

“Police and ambulance staff also encourage rough sleepers to head for the shelter.”

If members of the public are concerned about someone they see sleeping rough, they can contact the relevant authorities via Street Link’s website at streetlink.org.uk or by calling 0300 500 0914.