MK Council is hoping to buy large city centre hotel, lock, stock and barrel, to house homeless people in Milton Keynes

As lockdown restrictions ease and hotels prepare to open as early as next month, the temporary guests could find themselves back on the streets again.

The council, which has housed more than 100 homeless during the coronavirus crisis, admits it is at a "critical juncture" in battling the problem on rough sleepers in MK.

And one perfect solution would be to buy up the entire Grafton Gate hotel.

A top council source told the Citizen today; "We have seen how well a city centre offer has worked. We are now trying to establish if the owner of the current hotel may sell us the building so we can provide the facility all the time.

"It would be perfect."

The source said contact has been made with the Travelodge owners but it was "early days".

MK Council signed a lease with the two star-rated Grafton Gate Travelodge at the start of lockdown to use a large number of its bedrooms to house homeless people during the coronavirus crisis. This followed a government ultimatum that all local authorities should find safe and self contained accommodation immediately for every homeless person sleeping on the streets.

The government allocated extra funding and the council organised food and put outreach and support services in place at the hotel.

But now the contract has ended and council bosses are faced with the problem of finding accommodation for dozens of homeless people to prevent them from having to go back on the streets

The MK Council source said it was "a shame" the government couldn't extend the funding for a few extra months to give local authorities extra time to find alternative solutions.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he hopes to reopen "at least some" of the hospitality industry, provided they are safe and enforce social distancing, in phase three of easing lockdown - which could be as early as July 4.

MK Cabinet Member responsible for homelessness, Councillor Hannah O’Neill, said today: “Ending rough sleeping in MK is one of our biggest priorities. We want people to know that there is support available and nobody in MK needs to be on the streets. We’ll keep working to engage everyone who is rough sleeping, so we can provide extra support.

“We’re at a critical juncture and working hard to provide additional help to prevent people becoming homeless. My thanks go out to council colleagues who are out every day, helping the most vulnerable in our communities during these challenging times.”

She said the council was proactively reaching out to those people who are at risk of becoming homeless and offering help to ensure they do not end up sleeping rough.

Meanwhile MK Council is asking anybody who wishes to give money towards getting rough sleepers off the streets to donate to the Milton Keynes Homelessness Partnership.

You can do this by tapping a donation point in CMK or visiting the partnership's website here The council is urging local people not to give money directly to people begging.

"Though meant kindly, it can fund addiction - with potentially fatal consequences," said a spokesman,