After months of hard work and tireless campaigning, a bus that has been transformed in to a shelter for homeless people in Weymouth has a location.

The Bus Shelter Dorset announced today that it is ‘confident’ a suitable, long-term site has been found for its converted double-decker bus.

Set up by Emily and Eddie McCarron, the initiative aims to change the lives of homeless people in the town for the better.

In a statement, they said: “We are very pleased to let you know that progress has been made with the council and various other partner agencies. 

"We are confident that a suitable site has been found for the Bus Shelter and we are being supported with this so that we can start operating as soon as possible.

“As a result of this development it will not be necessary for us to present our petition at the full council meeting tomorrow and we want to say thank you to everyone who signed the petition and helped us get to this point. 

“We have been overwhelmed with the support we have from people locally and nationally.

"If you would like to get involved with our charity or want to know more please get in touch."

Since its inception in March, donations to the bus shelter project have flooded in – the bus itself was gifted by Damory – and most recently Weymouth chip shop Fish ‘n’ Fritz donated its prize money from a Weymouth BID event.

The campaign faced a setback in May, when an application to park the bus at either the Pavilion car park or the Preston Beach Road car park was refused by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

The double-decker bus has been renovated and includes sleeping pods for up to 20 people - 17 men upstairs and three women downstairs.

There is an area for volunteers to sleep, a consultation area, wood burner, seating area and toilets.

A fully-equipped kitchen trailer is attached.

When in use, people aboard will be offered the use of a PO box so that they are able to apply for work, register with GP and make benefit claims.

There will be a minimum of two volunteers on the bus at any one time who will all be DBS checked and complete adult safeguarding training.

Clients staying on the bus will be expected to engage with existing services and be willing to receive support.