A NIGHT shelter for rough sleepers has opened in Liverpool as the city tries to grapple with an unprecedented rise in homelessness.

The council made the announcement as an extraordinary meeting took place on Wednesday.

The number of rough sleepers in Liverpool has risen by 50 per cent in the last year.

In November, council leader Liam Robinson and cabinet member for housing Sarah Doyle wrote to Housing Secretary Michael Gove to request additional resources as money spent on temporary accommodation had spiralled from £250,000 to more than £19 million in five years.

The Labour-led council said the biggest reason people are being made homeless in the city is through Section 21 or “no-fault” evictions

Mr Robinson said the shelter opened this week “after months of hard work.”

It is expected to operate until late March.

The council is due to discuss a multimillion-pound contract with private property agents to alleviate reliance on hotels and bed and breakfasts, which currently accommodate 500 families.

Lib Dem leader of the opposition Carl Cashman accused the council of having a “lack of imagination” on solutions and called for the building of new council housing.

Links between poverty and health were discussed at Wednesday’s meeting, following a report by Liverpool’s public health director, Professor Matt Ashton.

The report said that 63 per cent of Liverpool residents live in areas ranked among the most deprived in England.

Without systemic change on issues faced in areas such as housing and income, it is estimated that life expectancy for women will drop by one year by 2040 and the number of health conditions will rise by 54 per cent.