A county councillor has revealed he was sleeping rough as a teenager while working at one of London's most famous hotels.
Coun Les Bowman, who represents the Holywell ward on Northumberland County Council, said he came from a "violent upbringing" and left his native North East for the capital as he felt it was his "only option".
Coun Bowman was speaking at Wednesday's meeting of the Bedlington, Cramlington and Seaton Valley Local Area Committee, where council officers had been discussing the various safeguards in place that help homeless people and rough sleepers in the county.
