A HOMELESS father and son who had faced a bleak Christmas and new year living in a car have kept a roof over their heads thanks to intervention by the Worcester News.

Chris Warman contacted the paper to say he and his five-year-old son Luke had been forced to sleep in his Escort Cabriolet after Wor-cester City Council refused to offer them a temporary home. His plight comes as city MP Mike Foster urged the council to do more to help homeless people.

The council had previously placed them in a B&B but the landlord asked them to leave after Mr Warman rowed with his girlfriend. The council then refused to offer any more temporary homes.

Since July, he and his son had been sleeping on the floors and settees of friends and family members living in Warndon, Worcester, but had run out of places to stay. "I've been into the council quite regularly and all they are telling me is it's all right for me and my five-year-old to sleep in a car. They say they can't get me a place until my name comes up the homeless list but the highest I've been is tenth," said Mr Warman However, when we contacted the council, a spoke-sman said Mr Warman had not told them he and his son were sleeping in a car and on that basis they would reconsider finding him a temporary home.

Council officers then spoke to one of the people he had been staying with in Edgeworth Close and helped secure an agreement that he could stay until after the new year.

Mr Warman said: "My friend is a tenant and was worried she would get into trouble for letting me stay but the council said they'd make sure that didn't happen. Now they are trying to find me somewhere permanent to stay, hopefully by February or March."

Meanwhile, Robert More-land, the council's head of policy and review, said: "Worcester City Council accepts it has a duty to offer Mr Warman permanent accommodation.

"We are continuing to do our best to find a permanent place for all of our households on our waiting list in need of accommodation and this includes Mr Warman.

"Unfortunately, because of Mr Warman's previous actions we are not obliged to place him in temporary housing, however if his circumstances have changed we are always happy to speak with him to discuss his housing needs and will review the situation."