THE recession has hit the homeless community in Warrington particularly hard.

Openingdoors, a charity that supports the homeless and vulnerable, has noticed a steady increase in the number of people trying to use its services.

It offers a night shelter for up to 10 people, drop in centre and has lodgings across town.

Staff there say that many people turning up on their doorstep are citing the economy as a cause of their need for help.

Some have said that they feel they would until recently have been able to get work through employment agencies, but now feel that paid employment is hard to find.

Figures from Warrington recruitment firm Antal International in April showed that only 28 per cent of UK organisations were recruiting at managerial level, the lowest hiring rate in Western Europe.

May’s figures, however, showed that the recruitment freeze was starting to thaw.

It found 45 per cent of UK businesses were currently recruiting and more than a half expected to recruit in the next quarter.

Elsewhere, charity Shelter has called for more houses to be built under affordable housing schemes to combat homelessness.

Last week housebuilding figures were released that showed 970 affordable homes were built last year in the north west.

Shelter wants that figure to rise.

“With unemployment soaring, repossessions rising and 234,559 households on the north west’s council housing waiting lists, Shelter believes 10, 600 homes must be provided each year in the region if the Government is to build enough affordable homes for the future,” said campaign officer Olive Butler.

“The Government has pledged to spend more than £8 billion throughout the country to deliver 185,000 new affordable homes by 2011. The money is already there, but we now need ministers to accelerate spending immediately and begin reversing the damaging decline in housebuilding.

“If we don’t see a very steep rise in housebuilding the Government’s pledge of three million new homes by 2020 will be a distant memory.”