On New Year's Eve night 18 people used the Night Cafe at St Patrick's in Hove, getting a hot meal and sleeping on mattresses on the floor of the church hall.

They were in the hall because there was no room in the night shelter. In the weeks preceding, an average of ten were accommodated in the church hall each night.

The planned withdrawal of funding simply does not make sense when so many are clearly in need of shelter.

As I understand it, there are two issues.

Firstly, Brighton and Hove City Council's local connection policy aims to prevent people who cannot prove a connection with Brighton and Hove accessing any service for homeless people either provided by or funded by the council.

This insidious policy is reminiscent of the internal passport system which existed in Stalin's Russia. It breaches the liberal values of our country and the Christian principles our society rests on, and probably contravenes the Human Rights Act.

The second issue is the unsuitability of dormitory accommodation in the shelter. True, this limits its use to men only but some provision is better than none.

As for the people who use the shelter, nobody ever complained to me when I was a voluntary warden there some 15 years ago.

It is common sense that any kind of bed in the dry and warm is preferable to spending the night under the pier or in a shop doorway.

It seems to me the city council has got itself into a difficult position. If it withdraws funding, the shelter might close and a considerable number of homeless people will be at severe risk. If it continues funding, it will have undermined its own policy.

The time has come for the council to use some common sense and reverse its funding decision. That is what is needed - the application of common sense.

-Gerard Murphy, Brighton