Estate agent that sells houses for more than £1m erects spiked gate in front of its doorway to stop homeless man sleeping there
- Harvey Richards & West which sells homes for £1million put up the gates
- Added to stop a homeless man sleeping there as he had been for two weeks
- There was outcry in Whitstable, Kent, when the gates were posted online
An estate agents which sells houses worth more than £1m sparked outrage by putting up a spiked gate to stop a homeless man sleeping in its doorway.
For the past two weeks a man and his dog had been sleeping in the entrance of the Grade II listed building before tidying up and moving away in the morning.
Harvey Richards & West, which sells homes costing more than £1m in Whitstable, Kent, then put up a black, iron gate to stop him being able to sleep there.
Harvey Richards & West put up the gates to stop a homeless man sleeping in its doorway in Whitstable, Kent. The decision sparked outrage on social media
A picture of the ‘spiked gate’ then appeared on a Facebook group for Whitstable and outraged residents flocked to condemn it as ‘disgusting’.
Within five hours of the post appearing online, and after around 200 angry posts, the sheepish estate agents removed the gate.
Pat Walton, 69, who met the homeless man while shopping, said: ‘What a disgusting response from a business who could have done something to help him instead.
‘I first saw the poor chap when I walked past him a few weeks ago.
‘I spoke to him and I said ‘lovey, have you got nowhere to go?’ He was really nice and told me he was supposed to be getting into a council home soon.
‘He has been there for a couple of weeks. He’s really tidy, he never leaves any mess. All that’s there in the morning is his little bag full of his stuff.
‘He’s not doing anything to anyone, he cleans up, leave him alone.’
The gates were to stop a homeless man sleeping in the doorway. He had been there with his dog every night for two weeks, but had always tidied up afterwards
After the gates were taken down, Mrs Walton said: ‘It was the right thing to do. People were up in arms about it.’
Retired Ministry of Defence worker Mrs Walton added that the homeless man has been talking to social services and hopes to be housed in the new year.
The sharp central spike on the gate was reminiscent of the infamous ‘London pavement spikes’ which appeared on the floors of shop doorways in 2014 to discourage rough sleepers.
Scores commenting on Facebook were appalled by the erection of the gate and expressed ‘disgust’ at the estate agents.
Nicola Fenton wrote: ‘I was very sad to see homeless people bedding down in town in the freezing weather on a visit last week. It’s the first time I’ve seen this happening in Whitstable.
‘A sad reflection of today’s society. I was heartened, however to see certain lovely townsfolk offering help and food.’
Simon Digby commented: ‘Disgusting behaviour from the business… But what do you expect from Estate Agents?’
A spokesman for Canterbury City Council said: ‘We’ve not had a report of a gate being installed, but it is a grade II listed building and so a gate would need listed building consent and possibly planning permission.
‘We are working with a number of individuals in Whitstable to try and move them into accommodation.’
The gates sparked outrage after they were posted in a group on social media
Harvey Richards & West were today approached for comment but have yet to respond.
Whitstable is a small seaside town on the north coast of Kent and is famous for its ‘Native Oysters’.