By Lucy Hickmott

Figures suggest there has been a drop in the number of people sleeping rough in Kent.

Statistics from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government show at the last official street count in autumn 2018 there were 233 people living on the streets in the county.

That's down from 266 at the same time in 2017.

The vast majority of rough sleepers are still men with 197 males and 30 females. Six people were of an 'unknown gender'.

17 people living on the county's streets are aged 25 or under.

Swale has seen the biggest total rise - up from 9 in 2017 to 32 at the last count.

Meanwhile Canterbury has the highest number in the county, but it has dropped significantly in the past few years from 50 in 2016 to 33 this time round.

The largest decrease has been in Maidstone where there were just 9 people sleeping rough last autumn, compared to 41 the previous year.

Medway has also seen a big drop over that period from 44 to 19, while in Thanet the numbers have halved from 46 to 23.

All four of those areas have been receiving funding as part of the government's 2018/19 Rough Sleeping Initiative.

That included a £30 million grant to be split between 83 local authorities identified as having a particular problem.

It's part of the government’s plan to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it by 2027.

Chris Thomas from homeless charity Porchlight, said: "This is good sign. Homelessness organisations and councils have been working hard to get a roof over people's heads this winter.

"The next challenge is ensuring this continues when the season changes and winter shelters close.

"We're also mindful that these statistics are only a snapshot of homelessness on a single winter night. We must remember to be mindful of the bigger picture by monitoring what's happening all year round.

"We want a permanent solution and are working hard to find one. This includes campaigning for the government to reverse some of the welfare cuts that are driving homelessness amongst poor and vulnerable people."

Graeme Solly, project leader from Kent-based charity Catching Lives added: "We worked alongside Canterbury Council and Porchlight in November 2018 to undertake a street estimate and came to the figure of 33 which is a considerable fall from our own estimation of the number of rough sleepers during November 2017 which was 73.

"We have also been working with the council on various projects funded by the government's rough sleeper initiative such as an extension of our winter shelter from three to six months.

"We have also made use of other funding the council have available under the RSI for example to help our clients access furniture when they move into accommodation and also access training courses to help them find work.

"However there is still much work to do to ensure the number of rough sleepers continues to fall and we will continue to work alongside other organisations to support the most vulnerable in our society.

"We could not do this without the help of our volunteers, including the seven churches who provide venues for our winter shelter."

Nationally, the number of rough sleepers has fallen for the first time this decade.

Figures suggest there was a 2% drop last autumn compared to the same period in 2017.

It's estimated nearly 4,700 people in England are living on the streets.