MORE than 2,500 people have signed a petition calling for the local authority to reinstate funding to a homeless charity triggering a debate at full council.

Petitioners are upset after Cheshire West and Chester Council left the well-respected Chester Aid to the Homeless (CATH) off the short-list when homelessness services were put out to tender.

Homeless champion Cllr Jill Houlbrook argued the current service was not up to standard with regards to customer service, accommodation and support.

Vicki Bulgin of Hoole, who started the paper and online petition, said the 1,500-name threshold required to prompt an automatic debate at full council had easily been met, with nearly 2,700 signatures collected in three weeks.

The CATH supporter, who handed the petition into council HQ on Tuesday, said: “We know already we have beaten all previously records for the number of signatures for online petitions.

“We therefore look forward to a public debate on the council’s financial support for CATH and the wider issue of provision for the homeless at the full council meeting in Winsford on the evening of April 26.

“This is the date we agreed with a member of the democratic services of the council and have worked with throughout this campaign. We trust it will not be delayed.”

Ms Bulgin cannot understand how CATH scored just 23.2% in a pre-qualification questionnaire as part of the tendering process, with the requirement being 72%, given it has been dealing with the homeless for 40 years.

She said: “People wouldn’t know there was a homelessness problem because of CATH.”

Ms Bulgin understands the council would like to site homeless facilities in a residential area, which she believes could create ‘a potential problem’.