'Protest camp of red tents has not helped homeless"

COUNCIL CLAIM AS CAMPAIGNERS DEMAND BUILDINGS OPENED

- ETHAN DAVIES

A CAMP of red tents outside Manchester Town Hall ‘hasn’t helped anyone’, the council has claimed.

It sprang up on March 23, initially as a protest, but has since morphed into a ‘community’, according to organiser Emma Leyla Mohareb.

Tents donated to homeless people have provided better protection from the wet and cold weather the city has seen since Easter, it is claimed.

Emma said the camp will be in place until the town hall agrees to “a deal for a solution to open buildings” for rough sleepers.

“They have two buildings that are used for staff training,” she added. “They could put some mattresses in there.”

The deputy council leader said the authority is “working hard to reduce rough sleeping as part of a wider mission to eradicate homelessness”.