Thousands of homeless people face the prospect of returning to the streets as temporary hostels set up for the Christmas period begin to close down.

Around the country, more than 4,000 people have been fed and housed in shelters and day centres funded by the charity, Crisis.

Charities are struggling to find shelter

In Hampshire, a former church is acting as a headquarters for homeless charities who hope to keep people off the streets after the Christmas period.

A spokesman for Friends of the Homeless, Steve Dent, said that whilst a small number of centres may remain open, most will close in the next few days.

"It's terrible because you're putting people in a position you know you wouldn't want to be in yourself," he said. "Having to close the door and know that they have nowhere to go is awful."

Homeless charities say that although every effort is being made to re-house the thousands of people who were put in shelters, there is simply not enough accommodation.

A spokeperson for the homeless charity, Shelter, Olly Grenden, said that more must be done to ease the suffering of those on the streets.

"The real solution in the long-term is having permanent, affordable, accommodation that people can move into straight away," she said.

"At the moment we have people moving into short-term housing and staying there for long periods of time because there are not enough long-term homes."

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