Rough sleepers will be given beds this winter supported by £66m from government funds.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the cash will provide warm accommodation as well as drug and alcohol treatment.

The move is part of the government’s drive to end rough sleeping by 2024, backed by £640m a year of spending.

It comes after the administration’s Everyone In programme, which supported 37,000 vulnerable people into longer term accommodation during the pandemic.

The Department for Levelling Up says more than 60 councils have been allocated up to £52m under the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant scheme for specialist support services for rough sleepers.

Local authorities that will benefit from the extra cash include Cambridge, Leeds and Westminster.

Around 3,500 rough sleepers will be provided with emergency accommodation, with regions invited to bid for cash from the £10m Winter Pressures Fund.

Also, church and community groups have been awarded £3.8m in grants from the Homelessness Transformation Fund to give rough sleepers safe places to stay.

The department says the £640m it plans to spend each year over the next three years to tackle the issue, is an 85% increase in funding compared to 2019.

Minister for rough sleeping and housing Eddie Hughes says: “Rough sleepers are some of the most vulnerable people in our society and we must help them off the streets and end the plight of rough sleeping once and for all.

“That means providing somewhere safe and warm for them to stay, and this funding will be a lifeline for thousands as the temperature drops this winter.

“We are also helping those trapped in drug and alcohol addiction and giving them the stability they need to turn their lives around.”

Charity Homeless Link chief executive Rick Henderson adds: “As the winter months approach, it’s vital organisations have the capacity to provide single room accommodation to help reduce the number of people sleeping rough, while minimising the risk of spreading Covid-19.”

Last February, staff from across the housing industry spent a night on the streets to raise money for homelessness charities as part of the Mortgage Sleep Out 2020.

In November 2018 more than 500 people took part in the initiative, raising £110,000 for the End Youth Homelessness charity.

It comprised 25 events across the UK and involved staff from 40 different companies.