Concern for man who sets up home in city bus shelter
Outreach officers from the city council say they have been engaging with a man who has turned a bus shelter in his temporary home.
The popular stop in the Millfield area of Lincoln Road, opposite the bus station, has become the latest resting place for the homeless man, complete with shopping trolley and bags of possessions, prompting well-meaning concerns for his welfare as well as the obstruction of the bus stop for travellers.
A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council said: “Our outreach officers have been engaging with an individual who has been sleeping at a bus shelter in Lincoln Road.
“We have offered him an assessment with a view to finding accommodation.
“We are also working to ensure that the bus shelter is cleaned up.”
Steven Pettican, chief executive of the Light Project, which runs the Garden House scheme offering information, advice and support to rough sleepers in Peterborough, said they had been aware of the man’s situation for the last couple of weeks but so far he had not taken up the offers of help. They have been working the council’s outreach team and housing officers to make the individual aware of an offer of accommodation and support, including visiting him again yesterday (Tuesday).
But Mr Pettican said: “He does not want to engage at this moment in time, but he has been given all the information.
“We act as a base of operations for the city’s outreach team to go out to people identified in the community and we will continue to try to engage with him.
“I am concerned about anybody who is sleeping on the streets, but some people are ready to receive support and some are not.
“Ultimately, unless he wants to get off the streets, we cannot force him.”
Mr Pettican said that created a tense situation if someone was sleeping in a bus shelter on public view, but there would be a plan to keep in touch with him.