More and more homeless people are being housed in hotels in Glasgow.

The number of people put up in hotels in the city has increased to more than 700 this month.

Official statistics show the number of homeless people in temporary accommodation also increased to more than 6600.

The data shows a continual increase with more and more people put up in hotels and others in temporary accommodation.

At the start of this month, there were 701 homeless people living in hotels or B&B accommodation in Glasgow.

It is an increase from 625 last July, by October it has risen to 680.

The council said increases in recent years are the result of the impact of the public health emergency.

Earlier this month the Glasgow Times reported how the Overnight Welcome Centre operated by Glasgow City Mission has dealt with 400 people since December who would otherwise have been sleeping rough on the streets.

The OWC finds people emergency accommodation immediately, then the staff follow up to help get them into a more settled home.

The information also showed the number of people in temporary accommodation on March 1 was 6634.

This is also an increase, from 6305 last July.

Sean Clerkin, campaign co-ordinator for Scottish Tenants Organisation, asked for the data under freedom of information.

He said the rise was “shameful and disgusting”.

There was also a rise in the number of children in temporary accommodation to the highest recorded.

It increased from 2636 in July last year to 2778 on March 1 this year.

Mr Clerkin said: “The record number of homeless children stuck in squalid and substandard temporary accommodation in Glasgow is shameful and disgusting and yet politicians do nothing sitting on their hands.

“We have a record number of 701 homeless people stuck in hellholes of hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation where 36 people died over the previous three years.

These poor homeless people are dumped in these places with no help for their mental health or addiction problems.”

He added the Scottish Government should release money to build new social housing in the city.

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council, said: “The increase in homelessness applications over the last two to three years is very much a result of the economic and social impact of the public health emergency. Relationships breakdown, family circumstances change and people are struggling.

“Staff across the council are working together with housing providers and wider partners to improve the range of housing options for those affected by homelessness, including larger families.

“We have increased investment in homelessness prevention activity and have been able to help more than 1,000 households avoid homelessness by working with landlords to ensure that those most at risk of eviction were able to access support through Tenant (COVID19) Hardship Fund.”