Medway Council offered emergency shelter for the homeless last night but volunteer groups claim people were turned away as they “could not prove they were homeless”.

The council put its Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) in place, which means it had to provide overnight help for those on the streets.

The shelter opened less than 24 hours after a rough sleeper, called Greg, was found dead in Solomons Road and one week after homeless man Michael McCluskey, was found dead in a shop doorway on Chatham High Street.

People were assessed at Kingsley House in Gillingham and then directed to accommodation at different places around the Towns but Neil Charlick, from Medway Street Angels, claims a number of people were turned away, but a Medway Council spokesman said only one person was refused shelter.

Mr Charlick said: “The council opened up a emergency shelter but turned people away as they could not prove they were homeless. Who would try to blag their way into a homeless shelter? It’s not the Hilton with Jamie Oliver cooking breakfast.

“It’s a sad state that I’m out at 5am making sure the others are all alive. All these people who help One Big Family, Halo and Medway Street Angels are all voluntary and do this as they are just decent human beings.

“It’s a sad state council can’t just invest time in these people it’s not all money that they need.”

Guy Jordan, from Medway Justice for Homeless, said: “A young lady who works with the homeless went to Kingsley House with a group of people and they were turned away.

"She returned with a copy of the KentOnline article saying the shelter was open but the staff’s response was very slack.”

He added: “There was a 19-year-old boy there who was refused help because he couldn’t prove he was homeless. He had mental health issues but was let go without anyone checking that he understood what was going on.

“They say that they don’t have enough money but it seems to be the volunteer sector are making up the deficit instead of Medway Council. We in Medway are better than this. The council needs to be doing more.”

A Medway Council spokesman said: “Four people approached Kingsley House for accommodation yesterday once SWEP was put in place. Of those, two people were accommodated, one was agreed accommodation but left before the booking was finalised, and another was refused accommodation on the grounds that he was not a rough sleeper.

“We spread the word that we’d implemented the SWEP via the Homeless Forum, which includes the police, health services, Porchlight, Rochester Cathedral, local charities and support workers.

"Council officers carried out outreach work also, by leaving letters with instructions about where people should go, in places where rough sleepers are regularly seen.

“The council works with charitable organisations all year round to help homeless people find appropriate accommodation.

"It is very sad to see people sleeping on the streets, especially at this time of year, and we would urge anyone sleeping rough to contact the council or visit Kingsley House in Gillingham, so they can be taken through all of the options available to them.”

In repsonse to claims that staff were not aware of SWEP, the spokesman added: “Initial issues ensuring all staff were informed that the protocol was in place were overcome quickly, with the operation running to plan overall.”

There have been calls for the council to do more to help the homeless this winter. Meanwhile, a group of people from churches in the Towns have been providing shelter on some nights.