A surge in violence and illicit drug activity linked to rough sleepers has spurred more than 600 residents and traders in St Kilda to sign a petition that demands their council provide 24-hour security on the suburb's main streets and devise a new homelessness policy.

As homeless support groups call for more social housing in the area, Port Phillip City councillors will next month be asked to vote on a petition that requests the council declare a "social amenity crisis".

About 600 St Kilda residents and traders including cafe owner Katherine Wilson say the suburb's main streets are in "crisis". Credit:Simon Schluter

The petition says the situation, which has gradually worsened since 2016, reached tipping point with the death of a rough sleeper on the busy Fitzroy Street precinct on Friday, October 11.

It suggests a six-month trial of positioning two trained security guards on Fitzroy, Acland and Carlisle streets to prevent incidents such as last Friday, when Simon Baric, 73, was hospitalised with a fractured skull after attempting to protect his son's car and motor scooter from two men outside his St Kilda home.