Soup kitchens across the region say the number of homeless people seeking help has increased dramatically over recent months.

Pen Huston from Hastings came up with the idea a year ago while volunteering for the charity Surviving the Streets, who were running out of sleeping bags.

Temporary pods for homeless people are to be built at a car park in Reading town centre. The scheme on Great Knollys Street is expected to save the council almost 1 million pounds a year.