ANY night shelter for rough sleepers in Weymouth would have to be a booze-free zone, campaigners have agreed.

Members of the Rough Sleepers Action Group are looking to see if it is possible to set up a hostel to keep homeless people off the seafront.

At the last meeting in St Augustine's Church Hall they decided that alcohol would be forbidden so any shelter could act as a stepping stone for alcoholics wanting to dry out.

The hostel should be located in or near the town centre with a nominal fee charged to users to stop a 'handout' culture being formed, members said.

Clergymen and social workers also heard from the man who has started a soup run delivering hot drinks and food to up to 21 people on the Esplanade.

Michael Daniel said: "We have 28 volunteers working five nights a week and it costs about £8 a night.

"A lot of goodwill is out there among people concerned that others are having to sleep rough on our streets. Not all of them are homeless - a few have got their own flats, a few are in B&Bs, some are alcoholics and some are drug addicts.

"But a relationship is building up and we are understanding who they are." He said teams drop off soup to groups of people at St John's Church at Greenhill, the bus shelters on the seafront and to anyone else they see hanging around in St Mary Street and St Thomas Street.

He warned that initial soup supplies will soon run out, Methodist minister the Rev Les Judd suggested that churchgoers in the area may be able to help.

Father Philip Dyson, priest at St Augustine's Roman Catholic Church, and the Rev Judd said they had met with South Dorset MP Jim Knight who also supports a night shelter for Weymouth.

St Aldhelm's curate David Harknett urged the group to 'zero in' on the borough council's homelessness strategy to see if there was scope for a hostel.

The Salvation Army's deputy researcher Mike Emberson will attend the next meeting to advise the group before they decide setting up a hostel is the way forward.

* An Outside Chance - steps being taken to help the homeless in Weymouth - is a special feature in Weekend Magazine with the Dorset Echo this Saturday.