OXFORD currently has approximately 45 rough sleepers a survey has found.

The number, recorded during a count in November, is down 26 per cent from the 61 rough sleepers counted a year before in November 2017.

That was the highest number ever recorded in the city.

Oxford City Council, which carried out the count, said the majority of rough sleepers in Oxford are white male UK nationals aged between 36 and 49 and sleep in the city centre.

The authority also said there was a significant increase in the proportion of female rough sleepers.

A quarter (11) were women, compared with under a sixth (10) a year earlier.

Nearly half (20) of those counted had been sleeping rough for less than six months, and 13 of these were returning to rough sleeping.

A third (15) were long-term rough sleepers who had been sleeping rough for more than six months – most commonly, for between one and five years.

Chronic and entrenched rough sleepers made up nearly a third (13) of people counted, and the council said this group finds it hard to engage with services even with targeted support.

Oxford rough sleepers averaged three separate and overlapping support needs, with mental health and an offending history being the most common (28 individuals each).

Two people counted during the November survey had accommodation in Oxford but chose to sleep out on the night.

The statutory street count forms the basis of annual government statistics.