Help is being offered to homeless people intending to camp out during the summer months.

Park Rangers have already confiscated some illegal tents and are keen to avoid people using camp grounds as alternative housing once the season is over.

"We have a good relationship with Family Services,'' Parks Officer Craig Burt said. "We can try and arrange accommodation for them and help with transport if they need help in that way.'' He asked that homeless people identified themselves so they could be put in touch with the relevant services.

Parks are hoping to avoid a repeat of last year, when the end of the season in the third week of September, found a number of homeless people left with no where to move to. Park rangers intend to be much more vigilant in watching over camp grounds this year and tents will not be allowed to stay longer than six weeks in one spot. Three tents were already confiscated from Chaplin Bay over Easter weekend, Mr. Burt told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

While the official opening of camping season was May 5, Mr. Burt said several people had put tents out along the South Shore area on Good Friday. "It's fine to put them up for a day,'' he said. But rangers later found three illegal tents hidden in the bushes and confiscated them.

Since that time, one person has come in and paid the $65 fine for erecting an illegal tent while the others remain uncollected. Mr. Burt said that the Parks Department had a meeting with long-term campers -- who are known to put their tents along the South Shore for upward of four months -- in March because the department intended to watch the sites very closely this year.

Last year, the department found itself facing a sizable clean-up project at the end of the season after some campers simply pulled out without taking their garbage away and camping sites were strewn with trash.

To avoid a repeat of that problem, tents will only be granted permits for a maximum of six weeks. And after a permit period ends, the site must be vacated for 48 hours.

"This way, we'll see whether the people are serious about cleaning up after themselves and taking away their tents,'' said Mr. Burt.

The cost of setting up a tent at one of Bermuda's sites is $5 per night and campers will be issued with tags indicating permit numbers, names and length of stay. "This way it will be easier to determine whether a tent is legal or illegal,'' said Mr. Burt.

Rangers will check the tags as they conduct their regular patrols of camping sites at Ferry Point Park, Coney Island and Chaplin Bay. Camping sites have also been added at Higg's Island and Horseshoe Island near St. George's Cut this year.

If the tent tag is not up to date, a notice will be posted advising campers to contact Parks within 24 hours or have their tent confiscated.

Although the department will still have a "relaxed'' policy over Cup Match weekend -- when more Island sites are available for camping on a first come, first served basis -- camping policies will be strictly enforced for the rest of the season, Mr. Burt said.

And he hopes that people will respect the permit process and not become "territorial'' over sites which have been reserved by others.

"There are only a few bad apples,'' said Mr. Burt. "And we'll keep on top of them.''