A PIONEERING scheme organised by the council and the YMCA will provide safe accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds to stop them sleeping rough.

Following assessments by the borough's 16+ service and the housing department to establish if they are genuinely hopeless, up to 20 people can be referred to the YMCA.

The assessment is carried out jointly with social services and should pick up issues that youngsters are dealing with including family relations, drug or alcohol or offending issues.

Safety at the hostel is of paramount importance, says the council.

The allocated rooms can only be accessed via partitions requiring a special key. CCTV equipment is being installed and rooms will have direct phone lines to staff.

A personal adviser and two YMCA workers will support the youngsters.

Cllr Liaquat Ali, cabinet member for social services, said: "It is all too easy for vulnerable youngsters to fall through society's safety nets and end up sleeping rough. We are determined to prevent this happening.

"The project will build the foundations from which young people can develop to move on."

Those seeking employment will have their rent paid by housing benefit and if they are working they will pay a reduced rent so there is an incentive to work.

Referrals to the scheme, either by the young people themselves or by an agency on their behalf, can be made directly to Waltham Forest's 16+ services at 14 Prospect Hill, Walthamstow.