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A church has become a ‘haven’ for homeless junkies who are leaving used syringes scattered on the floor – just metres away from a primary school.

Rough sleepers have been bunking down in the two porches at St Matthew’s Church in Smethwick since July last year - and much to the horror of fed-up church goers, they are leaving drugs paraphernalia, litter and even faeces behind.

Treasurer, Martin Kendrick, told Black Country Live that as it is private land, the clean-up operation falls to church members, who are at the end of their tether.

He said: “We've had people urinating against the walls of the church and the notice board has been pulled off and left on the porch floor.

“During the day, there is no-one there but they leave their sleeping bags, rubbish and a shopping trolley with bits and pieces in.

“I have spoken to one guy - his English isn’t very good - but he doesn’t seem to cause a lot of trouble on his own. There are others that come and cause problems for him, we found one of his boots that had been thrown on the roof before, and the other was in the church yard.”

The 68-year-old added: “The congregation are concerned about it as it has been going on for so long.

“We thought that throughout the winter, they’d find a hostel or better accommodation but it’s still ongoing.

“In the 40 odd years I’ve been coming to the church, I’ve never experienced anything like this."

Mr Kendrick said pupils from the nearby St Matthew's Church of England Primary School used to make use of the facilities but it "had to be curtailed last year as they weren’t prepared to use the porches because of the litter and needles".

“It’s always a concern that a child will pick one of the syringes up," he continued.

"Sometimes they climb over the wall to take a short cut.

“We’ve been in touch with the council and police about it. It’s an ongoing problem.”

However Councillor Kerrie Carmichael, Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for housing, said staff had visited the site “numerous times” but had not seen rough sleepers or discarded needles.

She continued: “Our staff and partners have been supporting St Matthew's Church to deal with problems caused by rough sleepers in their grounds.

“While the council is not responsible for clearing litter and needles on private property, we have on occasion carried out one-off clean-ups to help the church. We have also given advice to the church on how to dispose of needles in the future.

“We have given our leaflets to staff at the church with contact details of our housing solutions team who help those who are homeless find accommodation.

“We have also given details of local organisations in Smethwick who can provide the rough sleepers with support, advice and temporary shelter.

“We offer support to those who are made homeless and have recently secured £955,000 for our new Housing First initiative to support our most vulnerable rough sleepers. This will provide housing and intensive support for up to 55 people who sleep rough or are at risk of sleeping rough.”