An estate agent has apologised after installing spiky gates to stop a young homeless man sleeping in its doorway - just weeks before Christmas.

The sharp-pronged metal barriers were put up as a "last resort" outside Harvey Richards & West in Oxford Street, Whitstable.

A homeless man and his dog are said to have been sleeping in the doorway during the past couple of weeks.

People took to social media to vent their frustration at the company. More than 30 left negative reviews on its Facebook page.

One person said it was "shocking behaviour at this time of year".

Following the backlash, the company removed the deterrent yesterday.

Sales director Rory Patterson told KentOnline: "This was a last resort on our part and now with the benefit of hindsight we have removed the gate."

The estate agent has since issued an apology for any "offence" the gates caused.

Mr Patterson said in a statement: "As a small independent business which operates outside of normal working hours, sometimes up until 7pm or 8pm, staff have been having trouble accessing the office late in the evening.

"We have had a few conversations with the young man explaining this but unfortunately the office access remained.

"A member of Harvey Richards & West staff spoke to Porchlight earlier this week who advised us to direct him to the shelter in Canterbury which we did on a number of occasions and they also confirmed they were aware of him.

"We received several phone calls from clients and members of the public expressing concern about him and the mess outside our shop on weekends to which we were not initially that concerned as we fully understood the poor guy's situation so left him alone.

"This has been an extremely difficult issue to handle especially at this time of year and Harvey Richards & West hope he is found accommodation soon and can categorically state that we did not intend to cause him or anyone else offence or upset so profoundly apologise."

Canterbury City Council spokesman Rob Davies said: "We've not had a report of a gate being installed, but it is a Grade II-listed building and so a gate would need listed building consent and possibly planning permission.

"Our planning team is going to look into this, although I understand it may no longer be there.

"Regarding the rough sleeper, we wouldn't comment about one person in particular, but we are working with a number of individuals in Whitstable to try and move them into accommodation."

Tesco installed controversial spikes outside its branch in Whitefriars but removed them following claims they were "anti-homeless".

The metal studs were installed on the window ledges of the Canterbury store to stop people from congregating.

Read more: All the latest news from Whitstable