HOMELESSNESS campaigners say a rough sleeper is “lucky” to be alive after apparently living for months in squalor amongst rats and a “pile of rubbish” – while questioning why more wasn’t done to help.

St Paul’s Hostel chief executive Jonathan Sutton understands the authorities only acted when he reported concerns about the appalling conditions the man was living in near the canal in Tallow Hill.

Hostel trustee and Worcestershire Ambassador Philip Fowler posted a shocking image of a sleeping bag surrounded by litter, where the unnamed man was sleeping, allegedly unbeknown to the council and outreach services.

Mr Sutton said he reported the issue last month, while Mr Fowler said three weeks later a “multi-agency meeting” was held to discuss the best course of action.

“We were lucky that this guy has not died and added to the growing number of rough sleepers dying in the county,” he said.

“It appears to show a complete lack of effective outreach going out and looking after people like this. It’s a bit of a mess.

“Rough sleepers are not a priority for the council,” he added.

Mr Fowler and Mr Sutton understand the authorities were aware of the rough sleeper in question but not that he had been living in such squalor.

At least four other homeless people have died in the county since July 2016 when 74-year-old Cardon Banfield’s decomposing remains were discovered in a tent in the city.

Mr Sutton said he was made aware that the Tallow Hill rough sleeper was living in poor conditions by a member of the public and “as a result of that we registered a concern with the safeguarding authorities”.

“He should not have been living there for what was a considerable amount of time,” he said.

Mr Sutton went on to say he was offered a place at the hostel but declined, though St Paul’s “is not a suitable place for him” he added, due to his apparent complex needs.

“The question that needs to be answered is why on earth was he sleeping like that before anyone did anything about it?”

“He was not hidden from view, he was past the pathway that runs down Tallow Hill.

“There’s plenty of organisations that know of him. How was that allowed to happen when Worcester City Council are paying for an outreach team?”

To mark the third anniversary of Mr Banfield being found, homelessness campaigner Hugo Sugg will be leading a protest outside the Guildhall and the Maggs Day Centre from 9.30am today.

“There have been two deaths in Malvern last year, another unreported death in Worcester and a death in Redditch,” said Mr Sugg.

“That’s five deaths since the city council commissioned this contract with CCP [Caring for Communities and People] and Maggs.

“I’m worried there will be a sixth death.”

He added that there must be an urgent review of safeguarding procedures and proper scrutiny of these contracts.

Last month, the city council used money from its affordable housing fund – which is usually used to support projects for building homes – to fund its share of an estimated £530,000 county-wide contract for homeless prevention for the next two years.

Worcestershire County Council has cut its contribution to £100,000 a year – leaving a £165,000 funding gap to be covered by the county's six district councils.

A city council spokesman said they were unable to comment on individual cases.

“We and our partners engage with all rough sleepers we are made aware of with a view to supporting them off the street and into accommodation,” he said.

“In cases where we are concerned about an individual’s vulnerability, we will refer them to agencies that can provide specialist support.

“In some cases, it can take longer to find suitable accommodation for an individual who has complex needs.

“When that is the case, homelessness agencies continue to engage with that individual and provide support to them.”

An independent review into the death of Mr Banfield was previously commissioned by the city council, with a report published in May 2018 which said more could have been done to keep the long-term rough sleeper off the streets.

The spokesman said: “The report included 10 recommendations, many of them concerning how agencies that work with homeless people and rough sleepers can work more closely together.

“The city council agreed to work with its partners to implement all 10 recommendations.”

In January a report to the council’s communities committee reviewed the progress of the recommendations and found seven had so far been completed, while “two were in progress and one was on target”.

“The city council, along with its partner agencies – including St Paul’s Hostel, Maggs Day Centre and CCP – is continuing to work to implement all the recommendations to further improve the support for people who sleep rough in Worcester and Worcestershire,” the spokesman said.

“A further update on the implementation of the recommendations will be given to the Communities Committee later in the year.”

Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board is carrying out a thematic review of the recent rough sleeper deaths in the county.

Derek Benson, Chair of WSAB, said: “We will update on the progress of this in due course.”

Maggs Day Centre did not provide a comment before we went to print.