Alan Jones, the Middlesbrough supervisor for homeless charity Depaul UK, mentioned sleeping tough was “terrifying”.
“We see people who get attacked, have their tents burnt to the ground, and their few belongings damaged,” Jones mentioned.
“It’s no wonder they’re desperate to find a safe place to sleep, just somewhere they can get their head down with a little less fear.
“What you are seeing on the police station is traumatised people simply desperately attempting to outlive the night time.”
He mentioned people sleeping tough wanted “actual help” and long-term solutions such as safe and affordable homes.
A Middlesbrough Council spokesperson said they had received extra homelessness funding from government which was being used to employ dedicated staff at Depaul UK.
“These employees work with people dealing with the hardest of circumstances,” the spokesperson mentioned.
“The points cannot be resolved in isolation and require us to work with completely different council providers and different organisations to try to get the perfect end result.”
