A grant of £144,000 has been given to North Somerset Council to provide safe, long-term homes for rough sleepers.

The Government has awarded more than £150million to deliver more than 3,300 such homes across England by the end of March 2021, providing long-term accommodation to vulnerable people to keep them safe from coronavirus and help them rebuild their lives.

The council has been given the money to oversee local schemes.

Deputy leader, Mike Bell, said : “I’m really pleased that we have successfully secured extra funding to tackle rough sleeping locally.

“The money will help short-term interventions to get people off the streets and enable us to develop new longer-term move on accommodation.

“This will allow us to continue the success of work this year to help people off the streets to reclaim their lives.

“There is always much to do to support people with often complex needs but this funding will really help.

“I continue to be grateful to the brilliant voluntary, church organisations and local businesses who do so much to help rough sleepers and those facing homelessness."