Charity workers will be walking the district's streets at night as part of a project to provide an "out of hours" service for the homeless.

In a three-month scheme, CRISIS ReachOut worker Phil Cutler and Shelter outreach worker Ted Wood will be handing out blankets to people sleeping rough and providing them with advice about housing options.

At the same time they will gather statistics to provide a more accurate estimate of the number of homeless people living on the streets in Bradford.

Phil and Ted will spend until 10pm on several evenings a week touring different areas in the district where rough sleepers are likely to be found. They are also urging members of the public to pass on information about where homeless people are staying.

"We need to make the best use of the time we have by targeting the right areas," said Phil.

"Once we have a fuller picture of the situation we can then work with the Council, housing associations and other agencies to tackle the problem more effectively to ensure that there is no need for people in the Bradford district to sleep on the street."

The initial project is part of a three-year ReachOut programme to contact homeless people, particularly those with mental health problems, and to provide them with flexible and on-going support to help them resettle in the community.

Horton Housing Association - which provides a range of help for homeless people including Bradford Day Shelter - is managing the project, which has been funded by CRISIS, the Housing Associations Charitable Trust and Bradford Community Trust.

Day Shelter manager Avril Hunter said: "We have already developed housing and daytime services for rough sleepers, but we still need to do more. Phil and Ted will provide us with more information about the extent of the problem over the next three months."

The chairman of the Council's housing services sub-committee, Coun Jim O'Neill, added: "We know there are people sleeping rough on our streets but providing them with the right help and support is difficult when we don't know the full extent of the problem."

"This new project means we will be able to gather far more accurate figures by actively seeking out rough sleepers while at the same time offering very practical help."

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