More than a dozen Bermudians are living in abandoned cars on the edge of the foul-smelling Pembroke Dump because they have no home.

And after paying a visit yesterday afternoon to what has become known as "car world'', The Royal Gazette learned many of the "residents'' suffered from psychiatric problems.

They had been unable to hold down a steady job or get help from Government.

The overgrown lot's existence was revealed yesterday by St. Brendan's Hospital's Community Service Team (CST) leader Mr. Jeremy Lodge.

The clinical psychologist called for a "clubhouse'' and more housing for a large group of homeless people who do not want to sleep at the Salvation Army's night shelter.

They felt the North Street shelter -- a few feet from "car world''-- was too structured, he said.

He added that many had been rehabilitated and released from St. Brendan's and "deserved'' a decent place to live.

Mr. Lodge said it was a misconception that the roughly 250 people in the group were homeless by choice.

They wanted a place to socialise and call home, he said. And an experimental "drop-in centre'' at the Youth and Sport Department's Pembroke Community Centre was proving him right.

He was speaking at the final forum of Clinical Social Work Week at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

All the "car world'' residents spoken to said they would rather live in a house or at least a room of their own.

And they did not like the strict rules at the Army's night shelter, having to eat dinner at 5 p.m., be in bed by 11 p.m., and out the door by 9 a.m.

One homeless man, Mr. Carlton Matthews, went as far as to call the shelter a "prison''.

The rehabilitated St. Brendan's patient said he had been thrown out of the shelter for swearing. Asked if he would like to live in a house, he said: "I'd love to -- of course.'' Mr. Matthews was angry that he and other "car world'' residents had been unable to get help from Government. "I wish they'd change the system,'' he said, referring to the shelter's rules. "For three years I've been hanging around here. Government's got to do something about it! I am sure there are a lot more homeless people out there.'' Lying in the back of a rusted station wagon with flies buzzing around her, Ms Betty Simmons, a former St. Brendan's patient, said she too would like four walls around her.

A Social Services worker had told her she needed to find an apartment before they could give her money. But no one was willing to rent to her, she said.

She sometimes stayed at the night shelter, but preferred her run-down station wagon.

Mr. Carlton Manders, who injured his shoulder in a road accident and has been a patient at St. Brendan's, said: "I'd like a room but I can only pay a little every month and welfare won't help me.'' He also did not like the night shelter's 11 p.m. curfew.

Mr. William Wilson, who calls home a musty-smelling van with a carpet for a roof and tee-shirts for curtains, said he would rather live somewhere else given the choice.

However, the former St. Brendan's patient said his vehicle -- the largest in the parking lot -- was "all right''. He could live with his family, he said, but it would be too crowded.

To get an idea of the homeless people's needs, the six CST members have been asking them to fill out questionnaires as they passed through the "drop-in centre''.

Mr. Lodge said he was surprised at how many had attended the one-month-old centre and their willingness to talk to staff. "They'll gladly give you their whole life story and more,'' he said.

Some 250 homeless people had signed the centre's informal register, he said.

Roughly 50 filled out the form and indications so far were that they wanted to live in a house, but with the least amount of restriction.

He said the CST's efforts had been hampered by the fact it only had the means to operate the centre once a week for three hours over the lunch period. And it could not operate during school holidays, because students used it.

Mr. Lodge estimated about one-third of the people that had stopped by suffered from psychiatric problems, having been released from St. Brendan's.

He said the CST had managed to find three homes in the community for groups of former psychiatric patients. But it had not been an easy job because of the stigma still attached to being mentally ill.

The CST aimed to secure one "group home'' a year. Once clients moved in, the CST would continue to work with them and help them cope.

"What would be ideal is to develop a sort of full time clubhouse for the homeless population with nothing to do in the day,'' he said. "A place where they can socialise, interact and be directed to the relevant services.'' The CST was formed around 1980 during St. Brendan's efforts to downsize by discharging patients considered able to function in the community with minimal help.

A PLACE TO CALL HOME -- Ms Betty Simmons has an afternoon nap in the back of the abandoned station wagon she calls home. It is parked at "car world'', a lot on the edge of Pembroke dump.