Highland Council and police make appeal to find rough sleeper using Tomnahurich Cemetery in Inverness
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Authorities are trying to trace someone they believe is sleeping in Tomnahurich Cemetery so they can help them.
After seeing smoke rising from the cemetery over a number of evenings, residents in the Dalneigh area contacted police to alert them to the possibility that someone was camping there.
While no one was found by police, residents say there is evidence of someone living in the cemetery during the lockdown.
One resident who did not want to be named said: "We can see smoke from a fire rising up from the cemetery on a regular basis in the evening. If there had not been such warm, light nights we may not have seen it.
"Someone must be in dire straights to have to live in the cemetery and we called the police in a hope that someone would be able to help them."
A police spokeswoman said: "Police received a report shortly before 9.30pm on Tuesday, June 24 of concern for a person seen at Tomnahurich Cemetery in Inverness.
"Officers attended and nobody was found in the area."
Rough sleeping is a matter for Highland Council, and they have asked the person to come forward.
A spokeswoman said: “While we cannot comment on any individual’s circumstances we can confirm that the council is continuing to provide statutory homelessness services.
"We are monitoring homelessness trends and availability of temporary accommodation and utilising empty council, and in some cases housing association, property for temporary accommodation where this is required.
"As ever we rely on a number of external accommodation and support providers and our overall experience is that our partnership working arrangements remain strong and focused on keeping all staff safe whist delivering essential services to vulnerable customers at this difficult time.”
