More than 1,600 children in Wales will be homeless at Christmas

This Christmas 1,600 children in Wales will be homeless and living in temporary accommodation, according to new figures.

Over the last four years the number of families living in B&Bs and hostels has increased by nearly a half, housing support charity Shelter Cymru said.

The data has been collected from official Government homeless statistics and suggests over the last year in Wales, a child became homeless every two hours.

Across the UK, there is an average of five homeless children for every school in the country.

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The charity also said youth homelessness is a "serious concern" in Wales, with more than 3,000 young people aged 16-24 becoming homeless in the last year.

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In response, the Welsh Government said it was on track to build 20,000 new affordable homes in this Assembly term.

Shelter warned that across the UK, 1,647 children will be made homeless 3rd December and the date of the General Election on 12th December.

The charity is calling on political parties to prioritise housing policy in their domestic agendas in the run up to the polls opening, and in the long-term.