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HOMELESS Scots are risking their lives by sleeping inside a railway bridge 30 feet above the Clyde.

They clamber into the bowels of Glasgow's Union Railway Bridge to escape neds who attack them on the ground.

Gordon McMillan, 44, one of those who stays on the bridge, says he can't turn in his sleep in case he falls to his death.

And he told how he saw another homeless man plunge from the bridge while sleeping and break his back.

Gordon said: "He must have forgotten where he was and tried to turn.

"He rolled off the plank and hit a metal section before he hit the ground. That probably saved his life because it flipped him round and meant he didn't land on his head.

"The funny thing is that he'll probably get a house out of it, because that's him in the system now.

"It isn't easy to climb up here. It's dangerous, but it's better than sleeping at street level."

Gordon, originally from Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, told how two of his friends had been attacked by thugs in the past two weeks. One had his face slashed and another was battered.

And he said: "These neds think we are there to victimise and attack.

"I've got my patch here and I don't let other people sleep too close to me but a few have come and done the same as me at the other side of the water.

"Up here I get to lay my duvet on the planks of wood then set my sleeping bags on top of that. I have two sleeping bags, one with a hood, and I just lie on my back on the plank.

"I don't have any choice because there's no room to turn around."

Gordon added that he saw another homeless person hang themselves from the bridge recently.

Politicians shocked by the story of the "bridge people" demanded more help for the homeless.

Glasgow Labour MSP Drew Smith said: "The plight of homeless people at this time of the year comes into sharp focus, particularly given the winters we have endured in recent years.

"There needs to be more support."

Holyrood passed a law in 1992 that said every homeless person would have a right to housing by 2012.

But observers fear Con-Dem cuts in benefits and rising home repossessions could sharply increase the numbers of people sleeping rough.

Smith said: "2012 was meant to be the year when we see an end to homelessness in Scotland.

"But rather than make concrete commitments, the SNP are making statements suggesting what a challenge homelessness poses, which does not inspire confidence."

A total of 41,553 households were classed as homeless in Scotland last year - an increase of 25 per cent on 2001.