CHARITIES will be handing out some useful items to homeless people as part of an initiative by the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Firefighters are providing a further 120 street survival bags to help keep homeless people safe, as part of an initiative which has been running since 2008.

The scheme has already seen more than 400 bags distributed throughout Wiltshire and Swindon by homelessness charities and other agencies, such as the Probation Service.

The bags are funded by the service’s community safety department, and are intended to reduce the risk of fire for people living rough.

Each waterproof rucksack contains items to help keep warm – such as a bed roll, sleeping bag, survival blanket and socks – as this will minimise the need to light a fire.

A wind-up lantern provides light, minimising the use of matches, while a tobacco tin encourages the safe disposal of cigarette butts. Other items include a smoke detector, personal hygiene items, basic utensils, a first aid kit and a flask, for hot drinks or soup.

Station manager Damien Bence, from the community safety department, said: “The scheme was prompted by a fire fatality involving a homeless man in Warminster back in 2006, and then a spate of small fires in a derelict building in Trowbridge in 2008, where several people were sleeping rough.

"We realised that, while we were limited in what we could do to change people’s circumstances, we could provide them with the tools to be warmer and therefore safer.”

The bags and their contents are bought locally, with businesses such as BCH Camping and Wilko supporting the scheme.