The streets of London are home to more than 6,500 people from every continent, an official report revealed Thursday.

For these street people, officially classed as rough sleepers, home in Britain's capital is a shop doorway, a park bench, a makeshift tent or even street corner.

The grim figure, published in a government report, includes statistics for London compiled by CHAIN, the Combined Homelessness and Information Network.

Chain's latest report shows that a total of 6,508 people were seen sleeping outside by outreach workers in London during 2013 and 2014.

Almost half were Britain born citizens, but the rest were from around the world, with homeless people from Romania, Poland and Lithuania accounting for 24 percent of London's rough sleeping population.

The total figure also included 413 people from Africa and 330 from Asia, making up just over a tenth of the total.

The number of people on the streets in London could be even higher as the CHAIN survey did not report hidden homeless groups, such as those who squat or stay in places which are inaccessible to outreach workers.

CHAIN's figures, however, were higher than official numbers published today by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). However, despite the lower DCLG's figures, they revealed that homelessness in London has almost doubled in the past five years when an annual count started.

The DCLG snapshot showed that the rough sleepers in London accounted for 27 percent of the England-wide total.

DCLG explained the variation in their count and that of CHAIN, saying their figure was based on a count made in a single night, whereas the CHAIN figure was a calculation of all individuals who were seen sleeping outdoors over a twelve-month period.

Today's report prompted homeless charity Crisis to call for action by national politicians. The figures, said Crisis, suggest that the problem is particularly acute in London, where rough sleeping is rising more than twice as fast as in the rest of the country.

Crisis said the official government figures revealed that rough sleeping in England has risen by 55 percent since 2010.

The charity blamed the rise on cuts to benefits and government welfare reform, a chronic housing shortage, and the longstanding legal injustice where many homeless people are not considered a 'priority' for help. With no legal duty to find most single homeless people accommodation, Crisis warned that councils are turning increasing numbers away to sleep on the streets.

Jon Sparkes, CEO of Crisis, said: "These figures show that the law is badly failing people facing homelessness. As the law stands, far too often when single people ask for help, they are turned away to sleep on the street.

"Homelessness is a frightening and isolating experience - the average age of death for a homeless person is just 47. No one should be condemned to these dangers. That's why we're calling on political parties to commit to review how the law protects people from the devastation of life on the streets."