As sub-zero temperatures and biting winds gripped Swindon, one restaurant went out of their way to make sure rough sleepers had the opportunity to get out of the cold.

Gustoso, in Old Town, welcomed nearby homeless people in off the streets, and gave them some hot food and a warm drink, giving them a little salvation on one of the coldest days of the year.

Louise Field, 53, the owner of the restaurant, said: “To be honest, I do a lot for charity. I feel so rich with the little that I have, so I can give a little bit on days like this.

“I don’t judge, I don’t know why they are rough sleeping.

“It’s the right thing to do in these conditions. We do it during the week as well, we go out and see if they want a hot drink.”

Gustoso was founded in 2013, and the staff have always been keen to help out where they can, taking hot drinks out to those who look in need on nearby Wood Street.

But as Storm Emma took hold last week, Louise and fellow staff member Connor decided they could stretch a little further, and offer up a cooked breakfast, a plate of pasta or a toasted sandwich.

Having put out the message that they were open to help rough sleepers, Louise said she was happy to see how far it had travelled.

She said: “I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see how many people it had reached – we have reached 43,000 people with the Facebook post.

“People are taking notice. We need to do more about it as a community, because no one, regardless of the circumstances, should be sleeping rough.”

After several people came in and gratefully accepted her offer, Louise, with her daughter, Charlene, was also preparing to take some hot food out to those spending the cold nights without shelter, in conjunction with local charity Helping Hands.

She said: “Alongside my daughter, we are preparing 20 meals, and they are going to get a hot meal and a snack and a drink as well.”

Meanwhile, the cold temperatures sparked Swindon Borough Council into putting their severe weather emergency protocol into action.

Under it, local authorities are required to provide accommodation to people sleeping rough under certain severe weather conditions. It aims to tackle the number of deaths as temperatures plummet.

You can help rough sleepers receive help by reporting them at streetlink.org.uk, or by calling 0300 500 0914.