A homeless man has been found dead in a cemetery in Essex.
The body of the rough sleeper was found by dog walker Georgina Pierson in the graveyard outside St John The Evangelist Church in Chelmsford on Thursday morning.
Ms Pierson said the man was slumped over some steps, Essex Live reports.
She said: "I was walking my dog in the graveyard this morning like I always do.
"I saw him slumped over the steps by the boiler room. I said hello like I always do and he didn't move.
I phoned the ambulance and they told me to try touching him to see if he responded and he didn't."
Temperatures dropped below freezing last night, with mercury levels plummeting to -1.2 Celsius at 3am.
The church was cordoned off police following the grim discovery.
A spokesperson from Essex Police said: "We were called by the ambulance service shortly before 11.20am on Thursday, December 5, with reports a man had died suddenly near St John’s Church in Moulsham Street, Chelmsford.
"Enquiries are ongoing."
The sad news comes hours after Jeremy Corbyn announced a “moral mission” to save the lives of those sleeping rough on Britain’s streets this winter.
Labour's package of measures to end rough sleeping within five years include £100m for emergency shelters in the coldest months.
Their plans will be backed up by an extra £1bn a year to pay for staffing and support for the homeless.
Rough sleeping has more than doubled since 2010, while the number of people dying homeless has risen by 50 per cent in the last five years, totalling 726 people last year.
