HOMELESSNESS in Bournemouth has risen by 150 per cent in the past three years, figures suggest.

The latest statistics, from Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), show that 85 people were declared to be 'unintentionally homeless' by the council between July 1 and September 30 this year.

Of these, 62 were placed in temporary accommodation for the foreseeable future and could end up spending Christmas in a cramped hostel or bed and breakfast.

Of that number, 51 applicants had at least one dependent child and six were pregnant women. Eight had to leave their homes due to violent partners.

Overall the homelessness figures in Bournemouth show a 42 per cent rise on the same period in 2016, and a 150 per cent increase on 2014.

In Poole the problem was less pronounced, with 30 people declared unintentionally homeless over the same period, of whom 19 were placed in temporary accommodation.

Some 27 had at least one dependent child - while seven had three children.

While the Poole figures show a 76 per cent rise on the same period in 2016, there was only a three per cent increase on 2014.

Housing officers classify someone as unintentionally homeless if they believe they are without a place to live, of priority need and are not intentionally homeless.

Those determined to be unintentionally homeless join the waiting list for a council house, while living in temporary accommodation provided by the local authority.

Some stay with friends and family.

Bournemouth council's own figures recently showed there are more than 4,000 people on the housing register, and that the number of homelessness applications rose from 102 in 2010, to more than 600 last year.

Across England local authorities accepted 15,290 households as being statutorily homeless between July and September, up six per cent from the previous quarter and up two per cent on the same quarter of last year.

One factor in the increase was the Grenfell Tower fire in London, where 71 people died, after which 214 homeless applications were accepted.

The number of households in the country living in temporary accommodation also rose, increasing by six per cent on the same date last year and up 65 per cent on a low point of 48,010 on December 31, 2010.

Earlier this week Parliament's Public Accounts Committee said the Government's attitude to reducing homelessness had been "unacceptably complacent".

Chairman Meg Hillier MP said: "The latest official figures hammer home the shameful state of homelessness in England and the abject failure of the government's approach to addressing the misery suffered by many thousands of families and individuals.

"As we approach Christmas there are thousands of children in temporary accommodation, a salutary reminder of the human cost of policy failure."

A DCLG spokesman said: "We are providing over £1 billion up to 2020 to reduce all forms of homelessness and rough sleeping and we are bringing in the Homelessness Reduction Act, which is the most ambitious reform in decades, to ensure people get support sooner."