The majority of rough sleepers in the capital are not British citizens, a report revealed yesterday.

Charity workers counted 8,855 rough sleepers on London’s streets in the 12 months to March – an 18 per cent rise on the previous year.

The report, carried out by the Chain charity network and funded by the Greater London Authority, said that more than 5,000 of these were seen sleeping rough on one night, and fewer than 100 on more than 20.

Charity workers counted 8,855 rough sleepers on London’s streets in the 12 months to March

It found 49 per cent were British citizens, while 31 per cent were from Eastern Europe. This included 1,279 people from Romania alone.

While the number of Eastern European rough sleepers jumped by 50 per cent on 2017/18, the number of British citizens rose by 4 per cent.