More than £250,000 is to be pumped into a new three-year project to help prevent people becoming destitute and sleeping rough on the streets of a Suffolk town.

The cash has come from the government and is to be used partly to fund a much-needed mental health worker in Lowestoft.

Waveney District Council has awarded the funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government to Access Community Trust (Access) a Lowestoft-based charitable organisation which will carry out the project.

Sue Allen, cabinet member for housing at Waveney, said: 'This is a crucial sum of money to tackle an important issue and it underlines our determination to act quickly to address homelessness and rough sleeping.

'The Access Community Trust has an outstanding track record in Lowestoft and are entirely the right organisation to deliver results.

'Two posts will be funded. One for the 'Making Every Adult Matter' scheme and the other for a much needed mental health worker.'

Senior councillors have agreed a special exemption to their contract procedures to put the money, a total of £266,250, to use in line with the terms of the grant and not thwart development of the project.

They were also concerned that no other service providers in Lowestoft were able to offer crash pad/hostel bedspaces or move-on accommodation for those affected.

The three-year project is a joint venture between Suffolk police, Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Waveney District Council and Suffolk County Council.

Emma Ratzer, chief executive of Access, said: 'We are immensely proud of the work we are doing on this project and the additional funding means that we can provide a seamless, fully inclusive service to some of our communities most chaotic and complex clients.

'We have run this service for the past two years and have delivered some outstanding outcomes for homeless individuals who were unable to access support from anywhere else.

'The exemption recognises the need for these specialist services to be a joined up approach across Waveney and ensures that funding can be used immediately, focusing on delivery and not administration processes.'

For more information visit: www.accessct.org