Homelessness in Watford is a real - and escalating - issue. The plight of rough sleepers is raised at Christmas but quietly forgotten soon after. So it’s good their profile has been raised in your paper. Theirs is a year round fight for survival.

Besides enduring freezing weather, those with no roof over their heads face are dogged by the curse of bogus beggars - those who feign being at poverty’s door but have a home to go.

There has to be a way of identifying and assisting genuine homeless people whilst cracking down on imitators.

The night shelters are full and the predicament of the homeless is that having no fixed abode rules them out of jobs and so renders them unable to get a foothold on society. But much as the authorities would like sweep it under the carpet this looks like a problem that won’t go away.

Dave Degen

Whippendell Road, Watford