WELFARE groups from across north Oxfordshire have welcomed Cherwell District Council's new homelessness strategy.

The Banbury Cake reported in January that the council had stepped up efforts to reduce homelessness in the area, and that a new plan to cut the number of people looking for accommodation had been approved by the council's executive.

The strategy included a move to discourage young people from leaving home, as well as establishing sanctuaries for victims of domestic violence.

A special care framework for vulnerable adults such as drug addicts was set out and approval was given for extra staff to be employed to deal with the issue.

The executive was told in January that failing to endorse the new strategy would mean a failure to meet Government targets.

Other bodies dealing with the problem included Oxfordshire County Council, Banbury Young Homeless Project, Banbury Homes Housing Association, Cherwell Housing Trust, Connexions, police, the youth offending team, women's protection groups, and drop-in centres.

They agreed to work together as an action group and meet every three months to monitor homelessness.

Representatives from the organisations have just met at Bodicote House to officially launch the strategy.

Gillian Greaves, head of housing services, said: "The recent review of homelessness has given us an opportunity to identify better ways of working on homelessness prevention."