Shuffling Deckchairs On The Titanic...

Police have arrested a wanted man who was found temporarily living on the roof of a shop in Southend town centre.

I'm glad they qualified it with 'temporarily'....

Southend’s community policing team have been targeting areas in the High Street which are prone to attracting antisocial behaviour and rough sleepers.

Not before time. The last few months has seen an influx in the 'homeless' (mostly street drinkers & the mentally ill) and walking down the high street in the early morning is not pleasant.

They said that one particular spot, the doorway of the old Post Office, which has closed down, has become a favoured place for drinking and begging.

Two weeks ago, PC Brewer moved on rough sleepers from outside the doorway.

'Moved them on'. To where?

That's not even a hundred yards...

Naturally, even these parasites have parasites:

But Gill Garwood, chief executive of homeless charity Harp, said rough sleepers should not be stereotyped as drug addicts - and she wants to see more done to help.

To help the bums, that is. Not the people who have to put up with human excrement in their shop doorway, or see takings drop as customers (understandably) go elsewhere:.

“At Harp, we are here to support people with any issues that might have led to their homelessness situation, including work to prevent people from having to move to the streets in the first place.

“People become homeless for a whole host of reasons.

“We believe that rough sleepers should not be criminalised for being homeless and that is why we are working with agencies in the town, including Southend Council and Southend Police, to try to help people access support that can help them turn their lives around.

“For the past five years, through our Restart Programme, we have encouraged people experiencing problems with addiction to seek treatment with Southend Treatment And Recovery Service, and attend group therapy with Narcotics Anonymous. We encourage residents to volunteer to assist with our services.”

Where can I volunteer with someone who wants to run the bums out of town? Along with this 'charity'?