The amount of rough sleepers in Dover district has multiplied by five over the last four years, snapshot figures show.

And the present estimate of 20 is the highest this decade.

A council report that went before members yesterday showed the amount jump from 13 last year and from just four in 2014.

The figure mirrors a county-wide trend of leaps in numbers of rough sleepers since the start of the 2010s in several districts.

In Canterbury the figure multiplied by 10, from 3 to 33 between 2010 and 2018 and in Ashford it rose from two to 19 over those years.

Even the 2017 statistic of 0.26 rough sleepers per 1,000 households was above the England average of 0.2

Figures went before Dover District Council's homelessness project advisory group, which agreed to note the report.

Officers say the count of rough sleepers are snapshot assessments with the estimate for this year based on checks made on the night of November 22.

Organisations such as the homlessness charity Porchlight and Dover Outreach Centre have been involved in collating figures.

The DDC officers' report to the committee says: "This year we returned the figure of 20 rough sleepers, an increase of seven from last year's total of 13.

"There has generally been a rise across the county, which reflects a countrywide increase according to the organisations Homeless Link."

The officers' report said that DDC is seeking a number of grants from the government, which has a target to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it by 2027.

DDC, working with its own Community Safety Unit Porchlight and Dover Outreach Centre, has submitted a bid for a total £162,718 for this and the next financial year.

The outcome is expected this month.

It has also submitted a bid, in partnership with Folkestone and Hythe and Thanet District Councils, for £561,000 out of a £20 million Private Rented Access Fund.

This focuses on schemes that will enable better access to and keeping of tenancies for those who are, or are at risk of becoming homeless and sleeping rough.

Again this is for the financial years of 2018/19 and 2019/20 and bidders will hear if they are successful this month.

The report says that DDC will again provide a winter shelter, providing space for up to 15 people a night.

That is available from now until then end of February, or until the first two weeks of March if it is still too cold.

Council leader Keith Morris had said that homlessness was a top priority when he became council leader last year.

DDC has an ongoing programme of acquiring properties and the re-purchase of former council properties for use as temporary accommodation and further acquisitions are in the pipeline.

Cllr Morris now said: "The rough sleeper count is a snapshot assessment on a particular night, and it is recognised there has generally been a rise in rough sleepers nationally. However, Dover District is committed to offering every help we can to people sleeping rough within the district.

"We are working with partners to tackle these issues, to try to break the cycle of homelessness and to link rough sleepers with the services that can help them.

"This is a priority for us all year round but in times of extreme cold weather rough sleepers are particularly vulnerable to harm. We therefore have a Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) which brings rough sleepers in from the cold during extreme cold weather.

"Our SWEP procedures were amended and improved at the beginning of this year to make them even more accessible.

"Under our revised procedure, we check the weather forecast every day and if the temperature is forecast to be below zero degrees, SWEP is implemented immediately.

"This is an improvement on previous years when the trigger was 3 nights of predicted low temperatures and more than that, we also now use the “feels like temperature” for activating SWEP, as temperatures above freezing can often feel like they are lower due to wind chill and other factors.

"More broadly, we have applied for additional government funding to help us continue to tackle rough sleeping.

"We also continue to work to address issues of homelessness across the district, and we have been progressing a range of initiatives to increase the amount of directly owned and managed accommodation available to provide homes for people. We would also note that the number of families housed in B&B and nightly paid accommodation has been coming down, compared with the same time last year, which is bucking the national trend."

Porchlight spokesman Chris Thomas said: "Homelessness is getting worse. The picture here in Kent reflects a national problem – changes to the benefit system and a lack of truly affordable housing are slowly but surely reducing people’s options and the safety nets that do exist are being stretched to breaking point.

“We are working closely with the council to get people off the streets as quickly as possible because the longer they are in that situation, the worse their problems become. That’s why we’re developing new partnerships to make the biggest possible difference to people who have nowhere to go and no one to turn to.

“Ultimately, it’s the lack of affordable housing in Kent and across the south east that continues to be the biggest challenge in solving this crisis. We need central government to build more affordable homes and properly fund services that help vulnerable people.

“The increasing number of people facing life on the streets is a scandal and we’re determined to turn the tide. But we can’t do it alone and – sadly - until the government starts to recognise and address the real causes of homelessness, nothing will really change."