More than £470,000 has been given to one area to tackle homelessness.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick made the award to Dover District Council as part of the Government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative programme.

It aims to get more rough sleepers off the streets and into safe accommodation.

National funding is being allocated to support vital projects such as shelters, specialist mental health or addiction services, and targeted support to help rough sleepers off the streets for good.

This extra money is on top of the £1.2million award for new affordable housing announced last November, and the new council housing programme underway by Dover District Council.

That is part of a five-point strategy by the authority to deal with homelessness.

Dover and Deal MP Natalie Elphicke said: “This substantial extra money is a real boost to help local homeless people get into safer housing and access vital mental health and other support.

"It takes us one step closer to ending rough sleeping for good. From my work locally on homelessness, I know how difficult it is to solve. As well as the severe impact on health for those affected by not having a safe and secure home.”

Mr Jenrick said: “At the beginning of the pandemic we took swift and decisive action to bring rough sleepers in from the streets and settled them into longer-term accommodation in record numbers.

“Ending rough sleeping is a personal mission for the Prime Minister and me – and we have made huge progress since he came into No.10, reducing rough sleeping by 43%.

“To build on this progress, we are making the biggest ever investment under the Rough Sleeping Initiative to provide vital services to those who need it most, as part of our drive to end rough sleeping for good."

Read more: All the latest news from Dover