A Truro takeaway owner is so alarmed by an increase of homelessness in the city that he has offered free meals to those living on the streets.
Darius Nerway runs Mr Chippy in Calenick Street and is offering free food to anyone who comes into his shop identifying themselves as homeless.
Darius, 38, and originally from Kurdistan but who has for 20 years lived in Cornwall and Devon, said: “I took over the business two weeks ago and we sell chips, kebabs and chicken etc.
“In the past I’ve always tried to help the homeless. When I lived in Plymouth I’d cook food and go and hand it out.
“In Truro every day I’ve noticed at least 10 or 15 homeless people in the city and a few nights I’ve been out and about giving people something to eat.”
Darius says that due to how busy this business is he isn’t really able to go out and distribute food at the moment so instead he is asking homeless people to come to him.
He added: “If they come to the shop and have a chat with me then can have anything off the menu completely for free.
“There are so many homeless people struggling at the moment. Around 2015 you wouldn’t see many people on the streets but now you see someone in that situation every 10 or 15 feet.”
Mr Chippy, which was once Jimbo’s Chicken Shop, had been closed down for around a year before Darius took the reins, but he said the early signs are good and the shop has been busy since it opened.
