'I've been pushed from pillar to post' - The homeless people hoping for change

Sam Blackledge reports on whether the election could change the region's homelessness crisis

People who are homeless in Devon and Cornwall are calling on the next government to build more houses and provide more support the most vulnerable in society.

With less than a week to go until polling day, ITV News West Country has spoken to people sleeping rough or being helped by charities in Newquay and Exeter.

They say they hope a new Parliament will bring about 'much-needed' changes.

Jeanette Garside, originally from Manchester, has been living in a small hotel room in Newquay for the past seven months after a family dispute.

"It has affected me a lot," she said.

"I've lost a lot of weight. I was nine stone, I'm now just under six. I was in hospital a couple of weeks ago, I had an ulcer on my chin."

"I just feel like I've been pushed from pillar to post and I'm getting no help," she said.

Monique Collins, who runs the Drop In And Share (DISC) charity in Newquay, said: "They are all promising to build affordable social housing, and I do hope the party that comes into power will make that promise come true because we desperately need it.

"We've got so many people who are homeless on the streets or stuck in hotel rooms, and it's unacceptable."

Richard, aged 50, has been sleeping rough in Exeter for the past few weeks. He didn't want us to show his face."The main thing is sleep deprivation," he said.

"You're worried about whether you're going to be attacked, you're worried about whether you're going to get rained on, too cold, and generally there just isn't anywhere for anyone to really sleep and be out of the wind, out of the rain."The housing charity, St Petrock's, has published its own manifesto, setting out what it would like to see from a new government.

Director Peter Stephenson said: "Homelessness is far more than a lack of roofs, important though that is.

"What government seems to be very very poor at is understanding that vulnerable people, without support, even if they have access to a roof, won't be able to hold it together, won't be able to budget, won't be able to keep to the terms of their tenancy agreement, won't be able to deal with facing eviction, to be able to negotiate a way out with their landlord.

"We need much more investment in support services to stop people becoming homeless in the first place", he added.