JUST three months ago Greg Dyson was optimistic about his future despite being made redundant from his £30,000 a year job as an electrical engineer.
Now the 37-year-old is an alcoholic, notorious locally for sleeping in shop doorways in and around Moulsham Street, Chelmsford.
He told the Chronicle: "It is a vicious cycle and once you are in it, it is hard to get out."
Greg is just one of 60 people living rough in the city centre, according to homeless charity CHESS, which wants to open a new 19-room bedsit in Cottage Place, near the Cathedral, to replace its drop-in centre which shut last year.
Greg and a handful of other homeless people, many fighting drink or drug problems, have made the Moulsham Street area their home in the past few months.
This week, however, some traders demanded action saying they were fed up with the presence of 'tramps' , claiming it was ruining their business.
Sean O'Sullivan, 48, of Stapleford Close, who passes through Moulsham Street regularly, said: "On Sunday morning, outside the vacant shop at the junction of New Writtle Street, I counted eight people on the pavement, in sleeping bags, who had been sleeping rough.
"The really cold nights of winter will shortly be with us, so what are the authorities going to do about this situation?
"Is it the police or social services? Whoever it is, something needs to be done soon."
