Kane Walker - who died on a freezing city centre street after years of sleeping rough - was forced into homelessness by the controversial bedroom tax.

Heartrending footage filmed in 2017 shows the moment Kane broke down as he told an outreach worker of his struggles to survive.

The video, which emerged last week, shows an emotional Kane telling Pastor Colin Rankine how he and his former girlfriend had been left with no choice but to sleep rough after the introduction of the financially crippling bedroom tax.

Watch the heartbreaking footage above.

The Bedroom Tax, or “removal of the spare-room subsidy”, came into force in April 2013.

It meant many of those receiving housing benefits saw the their payments slashed - with tenants living in properties with a spare bedroom hit with a 14 per cent reduction - rising to 25 per cent with those with two or more.

The footage, recorded in the summer of 2017, goes on to show a sobbing Kane explain how he was coping with life on the streets.

He tells Colin: "You were the first person to get me praying again.

"I used to pray with my nana, but then you got me to do it again and you know it does help me, every day."

After being forced onto the streets, Kane sought shelter in doorways and beneath bridges.

And it was in the city centre - under a flyover yards from the Bullring - where he would eventually lose his life.

Kane tragically died on January 27 in an underpass on Pershore Street after years of sleeping rough.

He was just 31.

His cause of death has not yet been confirmed but police said there were no suspicious circumstances.

His death shocked the city, with hundreds paying tribute to a "loving and caring" man whose life had spiralled out of control.

Pastor Rankine, who Kane often referred to as 'dad', said: "When I first met Kane he was sleeping behind Tesco in the city centre with his then-girlfriend.

"I remembered him because he wanted to pray with me - he got out of his sleeping bag, onto his knees and put his hands together. It was childlike.

"He was an incredibly loving and caring person, he always had a nice word for everyone and he just needed a bit of help.

"We signposted him and advised him where to go, I even offered him to come and stay with me but he was on a downward spiral.

"He'd lost his mom and dad and his nan. He got into smoking Black Mamba."

An outpouring of grief followed Kane's tragic death.

Friend Ryan Gulliford wrote on Facebook: "I won't go into the depths of his story, but his was one of the most moving.

"He told me how horrible it was on the streets, always so cold and he never knew what was around the corner.

"He'd wake up a lot of the time to either being kicked, p****d on or shouted abuse at by people walking by.

"He never felt like anything good was going to come and every day just got longer.

"He said he felt the world was against him and that every day just felt like an impossible mission, because there wasn't the help and support out there that he needed.

"He told me there was one thing that he looked forward to every day, which was for the help for homeless team coming out and providing a hot drink, some food and warm conversation.

"Aside all the bad that Kane was put through, he still managed to stay smiling and continued to every day with his head held high and a boat load of ambition.

Heartbreaking footage of Kane Walker homeless charity wants you to see

"He was loved by so many, you could tell this because of the amount of people that stopped to speak to him in the short time I was with him.

"Even though I'd known him for literally no time, the impact he had was powerful."

Peter Caine, founder of Helping the Homeless in Birmingham, told BirminghamLive the death of Kane had "hit the team hard".

"We've known him for around four years - since we started," he said.

"It hit the team quite badly.

"He was a good guy and a pleasure for the team to meet on our outreach.

"He always brought us a smile and will not be forgotten.

"We hope he has found peace now."

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Last week, harrowing footage emerged of Kane telling outreach workers: 'I'm done. I can't do it no more' just months before he tragically died on a freezing Birmingham street.

In upsetting scenes recorded last summer, the 31-year-old sobbed as he told outreach workers he "could no longer live like this".