Advice to help rough sleepers as wintery weather hits Lancaster and Morecambe

As wintery weather hits Britain with freezing temperatures and snow, Lancaster City Council's dedicated homeless team is urging people to get in touch if they spot anyone sleeping rough in the area so they can be brought in from the cold.
Advice has been issued by Lancaster City Council to help rough sleepers during cold temperatures.Advice has been issued by Lancaster City Council to help rough sleepers during cold temperatures.
Advice has been issued by Lancaster City Council to help rough sleepers during cold temperatures.

The call comes following the triggering of SWEP (Severe Weather Emergency Protocol) which comes into effect when the night time temperature is predicted to be zero degree celsius, according to the Met Office.

A dedicated team of city council staff are on standby 24/7 to respond to alerts and offer on the spot support and advice as well as making arrangements to get them off the street at whatever the time of day or night and into temporary accommodation during periods of sub-zero temperatures.

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Although some rough sleepers are already known to the team, there can be others new to the district which remain unnoticed, bedding down at different times of day or night, and moving from place to place.

Coun Andrew Warriner, cabinet member with responsibility for health and housing, said: “Although we don’t have the number of rough sleepers you might see in other towns and cities but one is one too many, the council remains committed to ensuring no-one on its patch spends a second night out on the street.

“In time, this way of living can lead to people becoming victims of crime, developing drug or alcohol problems and in minus temperatures could lead to illness and even death.

“If you’re concerned about someone sleeping rough, the best thing you can do is to report what you have seen to our specialist team of staff so that they can bring them in out of the cold and connect them to other local services which can get them back on their feet.”

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During extreme weather conditions you can call the council’s homeless team direct during normal office working hours (9am-5pm) on 01524 582257. In the evenings and weekends you can call Lancaster City Council’s out of hours on 01524 67099.

Alternatively you can contact StreetLink by telephoning 0300 500 0914.