The tragic death of a man has sparked a widescale campaign to provide support for homeless people in Folkestone.

The body of Jamie Westhead was found on Wednesday evening at a friend's flat in Pavilion Court in the town.

Residents have since started a fundraising campaign and are lobbying the town's MP and Shepway District Council for extra help in finding a suitable place to provide more bed space.

Police said this afternoon Mr Westhead, 44, a father of two daughters and two step-daughters was not homeless.

But his partner Diane Lambert, the mother of the four girls, told KentOnline: "He was here there and everywhere and he was sleeping rough.

"He had got a hostel in Dover and we don't know if he had lost his place. He wouldn't have told us if he'd lost it because he didn't want us to worry.

"My kids were coming home from school on Friday and people were messaging me and we're next of kin but hadn't been told anything."

"We don't want him to be slated as a junkie. He was a lovely man, a funny man and a nice man. The drugs was his addiction and they changed him."

Diane added sleeping rough had not helped combat his addiction.

They had been together on and off for 19 years but split because of the effect the addiction had on family life.

A group has now been set up on Facebook called 'No one Dies On The Street Tonight In Folkestone' and has already gained more than 1,500 members following reports a second man had also died.

Police have denied that Mr Westhead's body had been found with a friend's adding that they were not treating his death as suspicious but that the coroner had been informed.

"We don't want to see another person die on our streets, and we call on Shepway District Council and or local MP Damian Collins to act urgently"

In just 48 hours nearly £800 has been raised for additional shelter space on the group's Crowdfunder page.

The group is also raising a petition to Damian Collins, the Folkestone and Hythe MP, and the district council calling on the authorities to "act urgently" on homelessness.

It says: "We, the undersigned, say that enough is enough. We don't want to see another person die on our streets, and we call on Shepway District Council and or local MP Damian Collins to act urgently.

"We want to see you work with local agencies and to cut whatever red tape you have to to ensure that no one in our community spends another night on the streets."

The group was set up under the banner of securing additional funds to set up more centres to help house the homeless during the winter months.

The Folkestone Churches Winter Shelter, which is already run in the town by volunteers and helps make a huge difference, by providing a roof, warm bed and hot meal for the night is constantly at full capacity and cannot provide the assistance to all those in need.

The 'No one Dies' group suggests that empty shop units, office spaces could be used by the authorities as emergency accommodation.

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