Pick your way along the overgrown paths that line the south side of the River Clyde - just below the well-heeled facades of Carlton Place - and you'll find abandoned mattresses and sleeping bags, needles, broken bottles and empty soup kitchen boxes; the ephemera of a precarious existence.

After the lawyers in the nearby Sheriff Court have gone home, this area between the Suspension and City Union Railway bridges, is home to some of Glasgow's rough sleeping community.

Last week the body of 41-year-old Scott McGuire, believed have been to be sleeping rough here, was found in the River Clyde.

Police are investigating but the message from agencies is clear - "skippering" is not safe. Homeless charity Streetwork claims the average life expectancy for a rough sleeper is just 39.

Not everyone is sympathetic. Recently, spike barriers were placed outside a building in Glasgow's Vincent Lane leased by property agents Savills, to discourage two homeless brothers from seeking shelter by the hot air vents. Though widely condemned and later removed, they sent out a message; rough sleepers don't matter.

Since 2012 the Scottish Government has promised that everyone has the right to a permanent home. Key to this groundbreaking target was that there should no longer be priority and non-priority cases. Everyone should be able to access their right to be accommodated.

But in Glasgow, where the last of the housing stock was sold off over a decade ago, and reform of services meant the closure of the old hostels, there is simply not enough to go round.

According to the figures, hundreds sleep rough in the city every year. Data compiled by the Glasgow Homelessness Network (GHN) in the last financial year shows 1,016 people approached statutory homeless services, with 547 of them (54 per cent) being told there was no accommod-ation. This happened 775 times, with one person refused help on 29 occasions.

Only some of the 'outcomes' were recorded but the vast majority - up to 81 per cent - went on to sleep rough on the city streets.

From January to March 2014, 160 people were recorded to be sleeping rough, a figure that has remained steady over the last few years.

Alistair Sharp, prevention of homelessness project co-ordinator at Govan Law Centre, sees about 20 people turned away by statutory homeless services each week.

"They are not having their statutory rights met and as a result people are sleeping rough or forced to stay somewhere they are not safe," says Sharp. "People need to know their rights." But most don't, say the charities and legal reps supporting them.

James (not his real name), now a caseworker with the Glasgow Simon Community's Rough Sleepers and Vulnerable Persons service (RSVP), which combines street work with information, advice and intensive support, had no idea of his entitlements when he was on the streets.

He became homeless after his relationship broke down, believing that leaving both his partner and the arguments behind would be the best thing for his young son.

"I had no clue about where I could go to get help when I was on the streets," he says, "no idea even where I could go and get food provisions. I had alcohol and drug dependencies. I was really fearful about what was going to happen next and the substances reduced the fear."

At first he slept in closes, but as his drug use escalated he ended up under the bridges of the Clyde.

"I begged for a bit of money when I needed something. I had no confidence so I kept my head down but if you stopped ­regul-arly, I'd know you by your shoes."

James was one of the lucky ones and found help at Turning Point's Drug Crisis Centre, finally securing a hostel bed and a support worker. "I'd spent a year and two months in pure survival mode. I was 32 and I had no basic life skills. I was missing appoint-ments, getting sanctioned all over the place. I had forgotten how to do it all.

"They supported me along the way. When I started getting better I expressed interest in the treatment centre. I stayed clean. I started volunteering at the centre. It got me experience and when jobs [at the Simon Community] were advertised I knew it was what I wanted."

But, says James, there are still many people out there who don't know where to turn.

And when they do approach homeless services, they are still being regularly rejected. Some have been barred because of abusive behaviour, others are not seen because they are under the influence of drugs of alcohol.

Yet change is hopefully afoot. Following the voluntary intervention of the Scottish Housing Regulator, Glasgow City Council says it is working hard to turn things around. A review of its homelessness services is almost finished, with a final action plan due to be presented to committee in the autumn.

Weekly meetings are being held with charities and others in the sector, and a large scale consultation with homeless people themselves is due to take place in coming weeks. Staff are working hard to increase the amount of accommodation too; 1,500 additional flats have been secured. A temporary hostel, to house up to 40 men will open in October this year and two new units will accommodate another 60 from April 2016.

"There used to be a reluctance to admit there was a problem [with rough sleeping in Glasgow]," says Lorraine McGrath, chief executive of the Glasgow Simon Community. "But the whole system is being looked at. There is a huge amount of work going into this. There is an appetite to be as radical as it needs to be."

Sandy Farquharson, director of the Marie Trust, a day centre working with the city's most vulnerable, agrees. "Glasgow City Council is now doing all it can to improve services. There are difficulties.

"But it is listening and trying to resolve them."

Both admit there's a long way to go. Currently the Simon Community street workers are still giving out between 10-15 sleeping bags a month when their attempts to find someone a bed for the night fail.

The Marie Trust sees them at breakfast time when they come to eat and shower.

And for James, it's personal. "Things might be improving but is it enough?" he asks. "No-one is beyond help if they get the right interventions. And I don't think that anyone should be left sleeping rough at night."

If you are concerned about someone who is sleeping rough call the Glasgow Simon Community RSVP service on 0800 027 7466.