The council has to use accommodation in Bristol and Cardiff

The rise in the numbers of homeless people in the area has been blamed on rising house prices.

A lack of temporary accommodation in the area means that many are being housed as far away as Bristol.

A planning application for the new hostel will be discussed by the council in early February.

Torfaen council has a duty to provide temporary accommodation to people who present themselves as homeless, but this often means that bed and bcreakfast establishments have to be used costing the council �450,000 a year.

The number of young people who present themselves as homeless is growing each year Yvonne Warren, mayor of Torfaen

But a shortage in such establishments in the area means that the council has to use accommodation in Cardiff and Bristol.

A social housing grant has been allocated to fund the cost of the new �1.3m shelter scheme.

Torfaen's mayor, councillor Yvonne Warren is supporting the plans to convert a disused building in Osbourne Road in Pontypool into a 20-bed shelter, which would be fully staffed and aimed specifically at young people aged between 16 and 25.

"The number of young people who present themselves as homeless is growing each year and we are having to send them as far away as Bristol because we haven't got enough accommodation in Torfaen," she said.

"The shelter is a really positive thing because it will give those referred there the chance to learn new skills.

"And hopefully they will be able to move on from the shelter into their own homes.

"It is a really positive thing for the area. At the moment the building we want to use it empty and is starting to get run down.

"We want to pull that down and start afresh," she said.

Feedback

But she admitted that there had been some negative feedback about the project from people, who would be living near the planned shelter.

"We have had some people voicing their worries, and I would encourage them to do that because then we can talk and maybe allay their fears," she said.

She said that extensive public consultation was a priority for the scheme.