More than half of all homeless people in Croydon have reported they had been attacked while sleeping on the streets, a harrowing new report reveals.

And according to the report, Croydon has the seventh highest number of people sleeping rough in the country on its streets.

Its shocking data, published on Tuesday, February 7, shows just how vulnerable the rising number of rough sleepers in the borough.

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Of those surveyed, more than 50 per cent said they had been to A&E in the last six months, most needing emergency treatment several times.

The sobering figures also found that 70 per cent had a mental health issue, physical health complaint or a drug problem.

Some 17 per cent of those had issues with all three of these, which is known as Tri-Morbidity, CR Zero 2020 project, a Croydon branch of a European homeless charity revealed.

For the survey, more than 90 volunteers from the charity gathered information on Croydon’s rough sleepers.

In total, 42 homeless people agreed to complete the survey.

Some 60 per cent of rough sleepers in the borough have been without stable accommodation for more than a year, and 52 per cent said they had been attacked.

On the report, Gavin Barwell, Conservative MP for Croydon Central, said: “It is a moral shame on us all that in this year we still see these problems on our streets.

“At Westminster we will be looking at some proposed changes to the law in relation to the duties that are put on councils and the responsibilities of government to deal with those problems.

“The solution, however, requires action at a variety of levels and not just from government.”

Have you experienced homelessness in Croydon? Email sean.morrison@london.newsquest.co.uk