A vulnerable rough sleeper broke down in tears as she opened up about 26 months of hell while living out of a tent which yobs set fire to in Birkenhead.

The woman was speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service when we went out to speak to people about the biggest issues facing the town.

MP Frank Field has launched free ‘MP hotlines’ at four locations across Birkenhead, to allow people in need of urgent help to contact his team directly.

We asked people what they would use the hotline for and what improvements they would like to see in the cash-strapped area.

Here is what they had to say:

‘Rough sleeping is on the rise’

The rise of rough sleepers in Birkenhead’s town centre was by far the biggest concern for local residents.

Life long local Emma Cottrell, said: “Homelessness, the lack of help. It’s passed onto somebody else. There’s a lot of empty properties which people aren’t using anymore. Why can’t they be used by the homeless who need somewhere to sleep of a night? ”

Her views were shared by many who say the amount of rough sleepers has grown steadily over the last two years – with many vulnerable to abuse.

One woman in her 50s who did not wish to be named, said she’d spent over two years on the streets, and recounted a harrowing experience of yobs setting fire to her tent.

Breaking down in tears she said: “I’m 52 years of age. I have been living in a tent for 26 months. Visualise that. I’m lying down, looking at rats looking at me in my tent.

“There’s a horrendous lack of support. I’m now in a hostel. No one should be homeless. There’s no reason why anyone shouldn’t be able to get a property.”

‘It’s a dump’

A local street vendor who has worked in the town centre for over 30 years lamented the general decline of the town.

He said; “I’ve been here 36 years. It’s got no better. It’s got worse and worse. It’s a dump. The shops are empty, the markets are finished. It’s just a run down area. it needs more money. You never see police on the road. ”

He was one of many who said they were fed up of seeing shutters pulled down on once thriving shops.

'Everywhere is shutting down’

Many locals expressed fears for the future of the town’s once booming market, and said reduced public transport links were doing little to attract the footfall needed to save it from possible closure.

Market trader Eric Scott said: ” The trade has deteriorated over the last 10 years. It’s gone down hill constantly. The market used to be the principle asset of Birkenhead because people used to come up. It needs something like Liverpool One. It needs re-structuring.”

What is being done?

The MP hotlines being launched by Frank Field will be installed at four locations: Birkenhead Town Hall in Hamilton Square Number 7 citizens’ supermarket and community café in the Grange shopping precinct Beaconsfield Community House in Rock Ferry St James Centre in North Birkenhead.

The MP said it was in a response to growing hardship facing local residents.

The hotlines will connect people to staff in his office who say they are able to help with issues ranging from benefit claims and assessments, to housing, debt, and antisocial behaviour.

He said: “‘Many thousands of residents from different parts of Birkenhead seek help from my office.

"We are often a last resort for people who are either at their wits’ end or on the brink of chronic hardship and feel as though they have nowhere else to turn.

"We fight hard for everyone who seeks our help.

“I’m always seeking ways to ensure that the casework service provided by my office becomes ever more accessible to as many residents as possible, where they live and when they need it.

"It is often when people visit their local community centre, and speak with the staff and volunteers there, that the need for urgent help emerges.

“I hope these new hotlines, in addition to my Freephone number – 0800 028 0293 – and regular advice surgeries, will help to deliver such a service that residents deserve.”

Extra support for homelessness

Wirral Council say they have responded to recent rises in rough sleeping by securing £127,000 of Government funding and working closely with the Birkenhead YMCA to deliver an “assertive outreach project”.

Figures from the local authority show they placed a total of 177 households in temporary accommodation in 2018/19 (compared to 118 in 2017/18), of which 43% were single person households in vulnerable circumstances.

This week, plans have been revealed to breath life into the town by developing a Liverpool-style “Baltic Market” in Hamilton Square.

Plans for a creative quarter are part of long-term £1bn regeneration plans which have promised to “transform the town” – although they are in the early consultation stages.

Cllr Tony Jones, cabinet member for Regeneration and Growth, said: “Birkenhead has suffered, alongside many high streets across the country, from issues with major chains closing hundreds of stores and the impact of online shopping and changes to what people want from town centres.

“Through Wirral Growth Company we are determined to bring new vitality into Birkenhead. We have recently carried out extensive consultation on the town centre’s future and will be using that to bring back plans soon.

“In the meantime we are committed to the future of the market – we have brought it under council control to ensure its future is as bright as we expect the rest of the town centre’s to be.”