ANTI-HOMELESS SPIKES CAUSE LONDON ROW

Metal studs installed to stop homeless people sleeping outside a block of London apartments have caused outrage and an online petition with thousands of signatures.

One homelessness charity has described them as 'brutal' and Mayor of London Boris Johnson says they are 'stupid'.

But some residents of the private building say they approve of the measure.

Olly Barratt reports from London.

IN: "The 1.5….
OUT: SOC
DUR: 3.29

AIR: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-air.mp3
ARN: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-arn.mp3
FM4: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-fm4.mp3
GENERIC: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-generic.mp3
ICRT: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-icrt.mp3
NIGERIA: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-nigeria.mp3
RNZ: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-rnz.mp3
TRIBUTE: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-tribute.mp3
VATICAN: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-vatican.mp3
ZIZ: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0609spikes-ob-ziz.mp3

***

The 1.5 inch spikes or studs are embedded in the pavement directly outside an apartment building in south London.

Residents say they appeared several weeks ago after someone had been sleeping rough in the space in front of the block.

But a photo taken by a social media user at the weekend swirled across the internet and made it a major talking point here in the UK.

Tom Swarbrick has been speaking with people who live there.

CLIP

Homeless charities warn the spikes will simply move the problem elsewhere rather than solve it.

Howard Sinclair from homeless charity St Mungo's.

CLIP

Mayor of London Boris Johnson says the developer should move the spikes 'as soon as possible' and that they are 'ugly' and 'self defeating'.

Luke used to be homeless himself. He agrees with the Mayor.

CLIP

But as pointed out in a radio debate on LBC - the spikes may look vicious but are not the only deterrent to rough sleepers in the british capital.

CLIP

But despite the difficulty in obtaining reliable figures on rough sleepers - most parties agree that the numbers on UK streets have risen in recent years.

OB, SOC