ANOTHER £500,000 will be ploughed into Oxford City Council's efforts to tackle rough sleeping this winter.

The authority has won £511,000 from the Government's new Rough Sleeping Initiative and it will mean at least another 30 bed spaces are provided for people on the streets.

The council said three additional works will be based in the Oxford Street Population Outreach Team (OxSPOT), which is funded by the council and by the St Mungo's charity.

OxSPOT classifies rough sleepers and helps them access emergency accommodation and support services.

Last year, it helped about 300 people off the streets and 100 people were prevented from rough sleeping.

Linda Smith, the council's deputy leader and board member for leisure and housing, said: “Oxford City Council has a clearly stated ambition to ensure that nobody has to sleep rough on the streets of Oxford. We’re pleased to have secured provisionally a further year’s funding for the additional measures we are already putting into place for this winter.

“The extra accommodation and support will make a real difference in tackling rough sleeping in Oxford. In particular, it will allow us to provide more support to people with no local connection to Oxford who aren’t currently eligible for the homeless pathway, over this coming winter period.

“Nevertheless, it is important to note that these additional resources are time-limited and won’t in themselves solve what is a national crisis of homelessness.”