Numbers of homeless people have reached record levels because of the worsening housing crisis, according to campaigners.

Shelter says 320,000 people are now recorded as homeless and the number is rising, up 13,000 on last year – and the real figure is likely to be even higher.

It means one in every 200 people in Britain are homeless and sleeping on the streets or stuck in temporary accommodation, including hostels and B&Bs.

Shelter has launched an urgent appeal calling on the public to support its frontline advisers as they work to help the growing number of people trying to find or keep their home.

The housing charity combined official rough-sleeping, temporary accommodation and social services figures in its annual review.

Its report ‘Homelessness in Great Britain: the numbers behind the story’ warns the rising figures are due to a combination unaffordable rents, frozen housing benefits and a severe shortage of social housing.

Shelter CEO Polly Neate, said: 'It’s unforgivable that 320,000 people in Britain have been swept up by the housing crisis and now have no place to call home.

'These new figures show that homelessness is having a devastating impact on the lives of people right across the country.'