THE number of rough sleepers in Sussex has more than doubled in four years.

Brighton and Hove currently has the third largest number in England - 78 - after Westminster and Bristol, and other towns across the county also have people with nowhere to go at night.

Based on government figures, the estimated number of rough sleepers in Sussex on a single night has increased by 36 percent between 2014 and 2015 (from 155 to 211) and by over 100 percent between 2010 and 2014 (from 103 to 211).

Now new ways are being explored to tackle the increasing problem.

Some homeless people are 'sofa surfing - sleeping on different friends's sofas each night - while others sleep outside.

Now a conference of the region’s leading experts on rough sleeping, homelessness and street communities has been held in Horsham to explore new ways of tackling multiple and complex needs.

The multi-agency conference was part of the Sussex Homeless Outreach Reconnection & Engagement (SHORE) initiative, run in partnership with Sussex Police, Homeless Link and West Sussex County Council.

More than 120 people attended the event, which included a panel discussion of senior representatives from the Department for Communities and Local Government, Sussex Police, Brighton and Hove City Council, the NHS and Psychotherapy.

The conference focused on partnership tactics to prevent rough sleeping and combat homelessness by helping more rough sleepers find accommodation and to access services.

Eastbourne Borough Council is the lead authority on the SHORE initiative. and Councillor Alan Shuttleworth, Lead cabinet member for housing, said: "The conference is an important opportunity for all partners involved in tackling homelessness across Sussex to get together and discuss the way forward.

"These people work very hard to help people who are sleeping on our streets but there is still work to be done to reduce the number of people in this situation."

Recent activity in Sussex includes progressing the national ‘No Second Night Out’ programme and Street Link service which lets the public alert the authorities about a rough sleeper via a website and mobile phone app.

SHORE will be calling for an urgent new multi-agency initiative to crack the problem of rough sleeping in Sussex.