Businessmen and women last night began a night living on the streets of Bradford in a bid to help the district’s homeless.

The Suits on the Street event was organised by Bradford charity Inn Churches, which provides emergency accommodation for homeless people, in a bid to highlight the scale of the problem in the city and raise money for the charity.

Among those shivering in their sleeping bags were Midland Hotel general manager Gary Peacock and Telegraph & Argus reporter Hannah Postles.

Ahead of the event co-ordinator Juli Thompson said: “Thank you so much to everyone who has agreed to be out with us tonight and highlight the issue.

“The truth is there are around 50 people who sleep rough every night in Bradford and Calderdale.

“We have a great team supporting us from a huge number of churches from all denominations.

“Each guest is given somewhere safe and warm to sleep through the winter months; they get a hot meal and caring, trained volunteers to chat to.

“We offer a range of clothes and a nice wash and that bit of comfort means a lot to someone who has fallen into difficult times.”

The charity provides emergency accommodation for homeless people thanks to a team of volunteers from around 80 local churches.

One of the first business people to sign up was motivator and coach Andy McMenemy. He said: “I was delighted to be involved in the conceptual stage of Inn Churches’ Suits on the Street project in Bradford, and feel proud to be supporting the Bradford Inn Churches team and the local businessmen and women who are setting a powerful example in their community of how a united approach can make a significant and positive difference to those affected by homelessness.”

Bobby Patel, operations director at Bradford’s award-winning Prashad restaurant, said: “I’m very fortunate that over the last couple of years, through hard work and luck, we have been successful.

“But other people work equally as hard and experience bad luck and find themselves in tough situations.

“How do you support yourself if you don’t have an income?

“I spoke to Juli about what I could do and decided to support this fantastic event.”

Inn Churches began just two years ago by offering accommodation in churches for homeless people throughout February.

Now 400 volunteers man the operation from late November to March – some cooking a meal or clearing up, others bringing donations, others spending time talking with their guests.