Spending a night on the street in St Neots has given three members of the team at estate agents Thomas Morris Sales and Lettings an insight into the life faced by homeless people.

Managing director Simon Bradbury, director Steve Thompson and manager Andrea Delaney dossed down outside their St Neots branch to raise funds for local charity 3 Pillars Feeding the Homeless on what turned out to be one of the coldest nights of the winter so far.

They set out to raise £500 but collected more than £1,800.

Mr Bradbury said they had been overwhelmed by the support of townspeople throughout the night.

"It was extremely cold that night , it was very, very cold indeed," he said. "Snow was forecast and it did start to rain. If that had continued it might have been a different story.

"We wanted to raise awareness of 3 Pillars, who do an incredible job, and to get an insight into what it is like to be homeless, although obviously we only spent one night out there and that was more than enough."

Mr Bradbury said they had supported 3 Pillars for some time as part of the firm's charitable activities.

"We are really, really pleased with the amount we raised and were amazed at the support we had from the people in St Neots. They were dropping off drinks and chocolate for us and hooting their car horns throughout the night," he said.

"I put out a bin and there was £100 in coins and notes in there in the morning."

Mr Bradbury said: "It was very interesting to see the town start to come to life and 4-5am as people began going to work, which you don't normally see when you are tucked up in bed."

He said they had been supported by the industry's Relocation Agent Network and the Agents Giving charity.

3 Pillars Feeding the Homeless is based in Eaton Socon and feeds and supports the homeless and most vulnerable in St Neots, Huntingdon and Peterborough.

It supplies on 200 people in St Neots and 60 to 80 in Peterborough with food and clothing and tries to find accommodation.