Polish rough sleepers may be bussed back to Warsaw

Westminster council is considering hiring a bus to take homeless Polish migrants back to their native country.

Council leader Simon Milton plans to raise the idea with Home Office minister Des Browne.

A headcount done by charity Thames Reach Bondway on 29 June found 15 Poles sleeping rough in the central London borough.

Many came to the UK to look for work after Poland joined the European Union on 1 May.

Some had been tricked into believing jobs awaited them in London; others worked for derisory wages or none at all.

Unable to claim welfare benefits and without enough money to return to Poland, the migrants have been sleeping rough near Victoria coach station.

Milton wants the government to contribute to a number of measures to help the Poles either find jobs or return home.

He said: “We are looking at getting some people back to their own countries because we are aware that some have been victims of scams bringing them into the country with promises of jobs that weren’t there.

“We think the solution could be to charter a bus back to Poland, which government should share some of the responsibility for.”

He added: “I have written to Des Browne with police support to say we would like a meeting to discuss remedies before the numbers start to snowball.”

Milton will also suggest there should be vetting of would-be migrants in Poland so people with skills needed in the UK job market come to London.

A Home Office spokesman confirmed Browne had received Milton’s letter and said a meeting was being set up. But he would not comment on the idea of chartering a bus.

Local homelessness charities have said they would support the plan as long as people were not forced to return. A spokesman for homelessness charity Thames Reach Bondway said: “Where people are expressing a wish to return, we should make sure that happens.”