ROSSENDALE and Darwen MP Jake Berry has defended the use of the 1824 Vagrancy Act to get rough sleepers off the streets.

The Conservative minister was responding to a Westminster call by Liberal Democrat Layla Moran to repeal ‘a cruel and outdated piece of legislation’.

Mr Berry told her: "The government does not believe that anyone should be criminalised for simply sleeping rough, but equally we should not rush to a wholesale repeal of the 1824 Act without proper consideration of the consequences.

“It is sometimes the only option to get someone off the street when they have become dependent on begging income to support their drug or alcohol dependency and to find ways of moving towards the support they need.”