THE gap between rich and poor was sharply illustrated yesterday by the discovery of people living in rubbish skips, not far from one of the region's richest areas.

So-called skip rats curl up for the night inside clothing and paper recycling banks in North-East towns, while the property market is booming for the seriously rich.

While desperately poor people are bedding down in metal containers in town centre car parks, house prices are forecast to continue rising in rural areas.

Anti-poverty campaigners described as "obscene" news that a man had to be cut free from a clothing bank in Hartlepool, while a new report by the Land Registry predicts neighbouring Stockton will soon become one of the country's elite areas and see its first £1m home built.

The skip rats have also been making homes for themselves in Stockton, but run the twin risks of becoming trapped or burnt if the candles, which are their only source of heat and light, set fire to the clothing.

In the latest incident, firefighters rescued a man trapped for an hour in a Salvation Army clothing collection bin, after he climbed inside to visit a friend who was living inside. The rescue was launched after his plight was caught on security cameras.

A spokesman for the homeless charity Shelter said: "If there's not enough housing then people are forced to live in the most unsuitable places."

Lawrence Mcanelly, housing manager for Middlesbrough's Community Campus voluntary homeless aid group, said: "That people are living in skips is a dreadful comment on society and especially obscene when such expensive homes are not far away."

Last year, the group dealt with 280 homeless people, an increase on the previous year and with more of them aged 16 and 17. But the group can only house one quarter of them.

One homeless 19-year-old who is due to be housed by Community Campus, has blistered feet, from walking the streets day and night. He lives in skips, if he is not moved on.

A Hartlepool Borough Council spokesman said there was no serious homeless situation, but there was always a hard core of people who had no home.

On the other side of the coin, Charles Yeoman, of Harrogate estate agents Strutt and Parker, said: "There are no new £1m homes yet, but one could be built at any time.

"There are people with enough money to have them built to their specifications, even in the North-East.

"The maximum price of new homes on the Wynyard estate, for example, is about £500,000."