COUNCIL officials say they are committed to tackling homelessness in Bournemouth after a man started sleeping in the doorway of a former restaurant.

Photographs taken by the Daily Echo show the man asleep under the awning of the former Casa Brasil eatery in Old Christchurch Road.

The rough sleeper, who had constructed a makeshift bed, was surrounded by possessions including suitcases and a fan when the image was taken on Monday morning.

Last week, the government pledged to eradicate rough sleeping with a decade. Bournemouth will be awarded £400,000 to tackle homelessness, with much of the grant going towards the employment of four outreach workers and a project manager, as well as five units of supported housing accommodation.

During the last official count in October 2017, 48 people were found sleeping on the streets in the town - an increase of 300 per cent in eight years.

Officials believe the current total is likely to rise without intervention.

Councillor Bob Lawton, the council's cabinet member for housing, said: "The figures are up and down. During the official count in 2016, 38 people were seen sleeping rough, and this was up in 2017.

"The figures do vary from week to week. There tend to be more people sleeping on the streets in Bournemouth during the summertime months, like most seaside resorts."

The count takes place each November. Cllr Lawton joins rough sleeping teams out between midnight and 5am.

"The government funding will really help us in Bournemouth," he said.

"It'll enable us to support more outreach workers who can pick up on rough sleepers and try to get them some help.

"There can be a multitude of reasons why someone ends up on the streets.

"Increasing our funding will help us to tackle it quickly."

As reported, Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns has hailed the government's ambition to eliminate rough sleeping in 10 years as a "laudable aim".

"Behind every person who finds themselves on the streets is a tragedy," he said.

However, Dorset's police and crime commissioner Martyn Underhill told the Daily Echo: ‘’I welcome the introduction of the government's rough sleeping strategy, but in my opinion it doesn’t go far enough."