A council has been criticised as “inhumane” after installing metal bars on benches to stop homeless people sleeping on them.
Bournemouth Borough Council has adapted seats across the town centre to deter rough sleepers.
The Conservative authority said it installed the bars “following numerous complaints by members of the public and local traders” about people lying on the benches.
But charities condemned the “hostile” move and called for the local authority to focus on helping homeless people.
Photos of the benches have also provoked anger on social media, with Facebook users branding the council ”shameful” and “heartless”.
The council’s strategy first came to wider attention after Bournemouth artist Stuart Semple posted a picture of one of the benches on Facebook. He said between 20 and 30 seats had been “retrofitted”.
“The second I saw it I knew exactly what it meant and I was really shocked and quite angry to see it in my home town,” Mr Semple told The Independent.
He added: “This kind of hostile design is really wrong. Most people will just take these things for granted and walk past them but for a homeless person I think it would be deeply upsetting to see something like that.
“I really don’t think we should be making those kind of statements in our towns and cities, we should be making inclusive places. Everybody is welcome.”
The founder of a charity which hands out food to Bournemouth’s homeless said the measure was “an utter waste of taxpayers’ money.”
