A GROUP of homeless men claim they have “slipped through the net” of care and say Wiltshire Council, the police and Salisbury charities have no interest in their plight.

Having set up camp underneath Sainsbury’s in the Maltings car park, the men told the Journal that they receive no help, and are regularly set upon by thugs.

One man, known as Ricky, said that they once had a cooker but it got trashed, and that people regularly walked by and cursed them.

There are currently six permanent rough sleepers in the Maltings, four of whom are said to be ex-servicemen – three former soldiers and a former airman.

Ricky said that while Wiltshire Council had not helped, its cleaners and traffic wardens regularly came and “did their bit”.

He said: “They are as good as gold. On one occasion I woke up to find my wheelchair in the river, and the traffic wardens got it out.”

He also said that some people were very generous and brought food, clothing, blankets and sleeping bags.

But help from the city’s charities was in short supply, it was claimed.

Two of the men, who did not wish to be named, said that they had been housed at Alabare, but had been thrown out for drinking and smoking cannabis.

One said he was accused without proof and kicked out, before his possessions were binned.

An Alabare spokesman said that termination of an individual’s licence was always the final resort.

“Wherever possible we will continue to work with them to ensure they have support beyond our home,” he said.

The relationship of homeless people with police was another issue highlighted by the men, and some officers seemed to go out of their way to make things more miserable, claimed Ricky.

Despite the risk of getting cautioned if they do not move from the Maltings, the sleepers agreed that they had to stick together for their own safety.

Ricky said: “We get robbed of stuff and that is why we stick in numbers. I dread to think what it would be like if one of us was left on our own.”

Salisbury police chief Pete Sparrow accepted that homelessness was a wider issue, but said a group of 12 or more people could be an intimidating sight for the public.

“We need to get rid of this street drinking and intimidation,” he said.

“But there needs to be a lot of humility and humanity in what we do here, and it needs to be a combined agency approach.”

SSAFA, the armed forces charity, said its role was to support anyone in the armed forces community.

“We will listen to a person’s specific needs, but it is the legal requirement of the council to provide housing.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “Individuals who find themselves living on the street tend to have a number of complex needs and we try to provide as much support as possible, taking into account their individual circumstances.

"Our cabinet member for housing, Jonathon Seed, has spoken face to face to many of those people on the streets throughout Wiltshire to hear what they have to say and continue with that engagement process that we refer to below. This helps with the work we’re doing in this area."