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Homeless people face being charged up to £1,500 a year by councils to store their possessions.

Fees are imposed on rough-sleepers who have turned to local authorities for help.

It is feared bills could spiral into hundreds or even thousands of pounds for homeless people already suffering from debt issues and struggling with cuts to housing benefit.

Charities and campaigners slammed the levies while critics said more needed to be done to tackle the root causes behind the lack of social housing.

The Sunday Mirror submitted Freedom of Information requests to reveal fees charged by local authorities nationwide.

(Image: PA)

Some use vacant garages and others pay storage companies.

Tory-run St Albans Council, Herts – which has hiked council tax bills by 5.8 per cent – uses a storage company and charges £6 a week to store possessions for homeless residents.

Liberal Democrat Kingston Council, in south-west London, also charges £6 plus a removals and delivery fee of £30.

The bill rises in Lib Dem/Conservative-controlled Hillingdon Council, West London, where it costs £12 to £18.50 per week depending on location.

Lib Dem Watford Council charges a flat fee of £300. Five Labour councils revealed their levies. Birmingham charges £15 a month. Kirklees, West Yorks, demands £5 a week and £15 each time possessions are moved in or out. A typical weekly bill in Croydon, South London, is £15.58. Slough, Berks, charges £11 plus VAT a week, while in Hackney, East London, it is £10 per week.

The highest potential charges are in Richmond, West London.

Local Tories revealed plans for an instalment system of £10 to £30 a week – £1,500 a year. The top charge would apply in extreme cases.

It is now under the Lib Dems, and new council leader Gareth Roberts said: “We will be looking to see what we can do in future budgets to make this position fairer.”

Other councils charging ­include Cambridge, Stoke, Ealing, Worcester and Ipswich. Charities cited an inability to tackle the housing crisis as the real reason behind the charges.

(Image: PA)

Greg Beales, campaigns director at Shelter, said: “Many people will greet with disbelief the idea that homeless face the added worry and strain of paying to keep belongings safe.

“It’s important that families receive support during such a difficult time – in finding a home, but also in covering the costs of being homeless, which are often totally unexpected.”

Maeve McGoldrick, head of policy and campaigns at Crisis, said: “Losing your home is a devastating experience and having to pay to keep your possessions safe is an added and painful hardship.

“The real issue here is the huge number of people finding themselves homeless in the first place. If we build the right number of homes each year and ensure there is a strong safety net when people fall on hard times, homelessness can be ended in the UK for good.”

The Local Government ­Association declined to comment for the councils.

But Karen Dragovic, head of housing at St Albans City and District Council, said its nominal £6-a-week fee was charged depending on ­applicants’ circumstances.

She said the council covered “the actual cost of storage and transfer of possessions”.