Local families who found themselves homeless in Weymouth and Portland earlier in the year were being put up out of the area – including in Bournemouth.

A shortage of local spaces during the summer months led to the problem, coupled with exceptional demand, councillors have been told.

If the above average figures continue until the end of the financial year in April the borough council may end up having to spend £240,000 more than it anticipated.

Councillors were told on Monday that above set limits there was no financial help available nationally.

Head of service, Stuart Dawson, told the borough management committee the extra costs came from housing benefit expenditure.

Figures before the committee showed that there were more than 4,600 new claims for housing benefits, or changes to benefit, between June and August – double that of neighbouring West Dorset.

Mr Dawson said that new legislation meant that the council became involved in homeless cases at an earlier stage: “Because we had more families presenting during the summer we had to move outside the area to provide accommodation and that’s been a premium cost,” he said.