This week there have been renewed calls for an emergency night shelter to be built in Aylesbury after new statistics showed at least 40 people from the town have slept rough over the past year.

The figures have been compiled by The Hub, a day centre which was opened in July 2009 to provide respite, food and support for homeless people in the town.

Support workers there say a night shelter is desperately needed for people who Aylesbury Vale District Council do not deem a priority and are not obliged to house, such as adults with no children or without a medical condition.

This includes Tom (not real name), whose story serves as a warning just how the fragile economy – in his case combined with relationship breakdown – can quickly send lives crashing down to rock bottom.

Six months ago Tom had a job, long-term girlfriend and a home.

However, the 54 year old from Aylesbury says his life was turned up side down when the housing market crashed and he lost his work as a plasterer.

Around the same time his partner of nine years ended their relationship after a cash windfall, ordering him to leave her home. He says the break-up and his unemployment destroyed his self-esteem.

"She said I don't need you any more because I have got money now," he said. "I had helped pay her mortgage, pay the bills.

"It hurt me, I just thought stuff it."

He went on: "I have phoned everyone I know for a job but there's nothing out there at the moment.

"Because of the recession all the house build-ing has stopped, most of the the blokes I know are out work."

Tom has spent the last six months 'sofa-surfing' at his friends' homes, but this has increasingly become difficult and he has been forced to sleep rough for periods.

"I have been on the streets for two weeks," he said. "It is on and off. Sometimes I sleep on a park bench or in a shed or wherever I can."

Up until last week, Tom was not claiming any benefits, spending his entire savings simply to survive.

But even with hand-outs, last week The Hub, based at the Methodist Church in Buckingham Street, was struggling to secure even the most basic accommodation for him to rent.

Staff enquired about a one-bedroom flat, with shared facilities, which costs £90 a week. But even this is beyond his means.

Tom can get housing benefit for up to £70 and Job Seekers' Allowance at around £50, leaving him about £30 a week to spend on essentials such as food, clothing, telephone calls and job-hunting travel expenses.

With no job, Tom felt he would not be able to afford the rent – yet he needs a permanent base if he is to get back into employment.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of The Bucks Herald.

See Voice of the Paper.