Soup kitchen volunteers 'worsen homeless crisis'

Charity volunteers inspired by the Christmas spirit face heavy criticism today for flooding central London with soup kitchens.

The attack comes from Westminster City Council which complains handing out food to the homeless is doing more harm than good.

Tory leader Simon Milton said: "There are nearly 60 organisations delivering food to rough sleepers in central London, which is too many.

"It sustains life out on the streets when we are all determined to bring vulnerable people inside, particularly in winter." The council has urged volunteers to divert their good works to "building-based" services such as day centres where homeless people will be discouraged from living on the streets.

Crisis, the national charity for the homeless, said it wanted people to show more compassion, not less.

"We do not agree with any analysis which says that soup runs of themselves create a dependency," a spokeswoman said.