The red tent camp outside Manchester town hall - and why it's 'not helping anyone'

A camp of red tents outside Manchester Town Hall 'hasn't helped anyone', the council has said. It sprung 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 told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the camp will be in place until the town hall agrees to 'a deal for a solution to open buildings' for rough sleepers.

READ MORE: Video shows mayhem on Manchester Airport flight to Turkey as 'unruly passenger' dragged off and arrested following diversion

"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'. Coun Joanna Midgley, a Labour politician representing Chorlton Park, raised concerns about the safety of the so-called 'protest camp'.

"At present there is a protest camp outside the town hall which was established by activists who are not themselves homeless, but which other vulnerable people, including refugees and UK nationals who were rough sleeping, have been caught up in," she said in a statement to the LDRS.

"This has brought with it a range of challenges, including political graffiti about a wide range of issues on the Town Hall and anti-social behaviour. Our concern throughout has been to sort out suitable temporary accommodation for anyone in the camp who is genuinely homeless and willing to accept the help offered."

Coun Midgley said so far, 38 people sleeping at the camp camp have been